Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Increases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 95.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,277 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,624,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $695,850,000 after acquiring an additional 129,005 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,591,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,790,000 after acquiring an additional 124,815 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,974,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,336,000 after acquiring an additional 32,975 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 10.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,831,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,640,000 after acquiring an additional 267,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,624,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,038,000 after acquiring an additional 118,221 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $125.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $119.21 and its 200 day moving average is $124.27. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $151.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 22.30%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.87%.

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.