American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Newly Purchased by Lindsell Train Ltd

Lindsell Train Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,000. American Water Works makes up approximately 0.1% of Lindsell Train Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $2,712,173,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 35.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,911,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,962,116,000 after buying an additional 3,883,057 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,171,477,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,351,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,081,000 after buying an additional 179,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter worth $443,787,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $152.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.47 and a 200 day moving average of $132.77. The company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.56. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $153.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.8950 per share. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Huntington downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.86.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its regulated businesses, the company supplies drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, and manages related infrastructure, including treatment plants, pipelines, storage facilities and customer service systems.

Founded in 1886, American Water has grown into one of the largest water and wastewater service providers in the United States.