American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers lowered its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,683 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $133.72 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $144.68 and a 200 day moving average of $134.94.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost 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 2.48%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 60.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. UBS Group cut shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.22.

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.