Trust Co. of Vermont Reduces Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $108,688,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $92,838,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.5 %

AWK stock traded up $2.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $145.70. 215,304 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,290,411. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $149.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.72. The stock has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.17.

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.