Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 50,754 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.07% of American Water Works worth $17,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $502,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,161,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $1,123,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 294.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 6,439 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $37,313,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.8%

AWK stock opened at $142.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

American Water Works 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.