National Pension Service Lowers Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

National Pension Service lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,748 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.12% of American Water Works worth $28,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 155.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of American Water Works stock traded down $1.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.83. 1,468,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,480. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, 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 $150.68. The stock's fifty day moving average is $126.60 and its 200 day moving average is $134.37.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AWK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.57.

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.