Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 7,617 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,617 shares during the period. American Water Works comprises approximately 0.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.11% of American Water Works worth $31,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new position in American Water Works in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim lowered their target price on American Water Works from $152.00 to $147.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $169.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.83.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $138.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.57. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.77 and a 12 month high of $162.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $141.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.82.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.17. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 22.08%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 8th were issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 7th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.08%.

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 1,600 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.4 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.