American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Newly Acquired by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 35,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.1% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 6.9% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in American Water Works by 2.9% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 43.5% in the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock traded down $2.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $150.42. 3,270,359 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,038. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.57 and a 52 week high of $153.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $136.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.8950 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AWK shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Huntington downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group cut shares of American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $153.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.14.

American Water Works Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South.