American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Increased by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.38% of American Water Works worth $335,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $148.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.95.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AWK. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.22.

About American Water Works

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.