Oak Thistle LLC Invests $529,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 77.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 20.3% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth $357,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 40.3% in the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 42,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,470,000 after buying an additional 12,167 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $143.94 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.82. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $149.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.