Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 63.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the third quarter valued at about $429,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in American Water Works by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 88,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,908,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,257,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in American Water Works by 108.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 14,004 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $129.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $151.22. The company has a market cap of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.63.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a $0.765 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.