Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,499 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.4% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its stake in American Water Works by 0.3% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AWK shares. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.83. 1,468,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,480. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.37. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

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.