Dudley & Shanley Inc. Purchases 4,146 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 166,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares during the quarter. American Water Works accounts for approximately 3.4% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of American Water Works worth $20,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $429,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,257,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in American Water Works by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,328,000 after buying an additional 14,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AWK. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.96. The company had a trading volume of 402,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,367,180. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.39 and its 200-day moving average is $125.45.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

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.