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

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,343 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $133.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.55. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.