Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,109,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,673 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.08% of American Water Works worth $262,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:AWK opened at $142.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $144.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.99. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

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.