Northcape Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,880 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC's holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented 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 stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AWK traded up $3.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,116,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,274,988. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.83. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 22.44%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works's payout ratio is 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.