Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Has $12.22 Million Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 98,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. American Water Works accounts for about 1.3% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $12,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 66.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 25.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after buying an additional 3,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 12.1% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 34,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,001,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented 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 on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Up 3.1 %

AWK stock opened at $132.63 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. 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 has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 56.77%.

About American Water Works

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.