Dearborn Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Dearborn Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 218,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,111 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $27,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in American Water Works by 5.6% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 26,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in American Water Works by 5.1% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 66,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $980,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $149.16 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $127.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $29.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $152.07.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.