Bank of Stockton Sells 450 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Bank of Stockton lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AWK. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $128.66 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $124.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

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.