Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Has $2.63 Million Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. American Water Works comprises 1.4% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 70.3% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,115,000 after acquiring an additional 395,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in American Water Works by 201.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,264,000 after acquiring an additional 291,315 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.96. The company had a trading volume of 818,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,506. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.26 and its 200-day moving average is $134.88. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About American Water Works

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.