American Water (AWK) Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of American Water (NYSE:AWK) by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in American Water were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in American Water by 25.3% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 96,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,902,000 after purchasing an additional 19,407 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,343,000. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of American Water by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of American Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,281,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in shares of American Water by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 506,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,567,000 after acquiring an additional 46,461 shares during the last quarter. 84.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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In related news, SVP Loyd A. Warnock sold 2,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.45, for a total transaction of $233,761.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,694.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael A. Sgro sold 16,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.54, for a total value of $1,290,734.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AWK. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of American Water in a research note on Tuesday, May 8th. ValuEngine lowered American Water from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised American Water from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, April 16th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Wells Fargo & Co raised American Water from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.63 to $88.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of American Water in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. American Water has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.52.

Shares of American Water opened at $82.99 on Friday, MarketBeat reports. American Water has a 1 year low of $76.04 and a 1 year high of $92.37. The stock has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

American Water (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. American Water had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $761.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. American Water’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts expect that American Water will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 10th. This is an increase from American Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. American Water’s payout ratio is currently 60.07%.

American Water Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States and Canada. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,600 communities in 16 states. The company operates approximately 72 surface water treatment plants; 527 groundwater treatment plants; 8 combined treatment plants; 127 wastewater treatment plants; 50,382 miles of transmission, distribution, and collection mains and pipes; 1,103 groundwater wells; 1,428 water and wastewater pumping stations; 1,313 treated water storage facilities; and 80 dams.

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