Private Advisor Group LLC Trims Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,343 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $133.63 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $125.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.55. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.39.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 56.77%.

American Water Works 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.