Bayesian Capital Management LP Sells 4,800 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Bayesian Capital Management LP cut its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 22.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 11,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 24,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after acquiring an additional 3,801 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 52.6% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 19,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 6,562 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $171,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in American Water Works by 265.0% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 47,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 34,585 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $143.20. 410,860 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,298,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $148.20. The company has a market cap of $27.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $132.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.09.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AWK. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

American Water Works Company 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 1,700 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.