Bank of Stockton Sells 450 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Bank of Stockton lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Water Works by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $277,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in American Water Works by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in American Water Works by 65.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $1,783,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.6 %

AWK stock opened at $128.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.83.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 21.77%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of 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 upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

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.