Sabal Trust CO Raises Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sabal Trust CO lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO owned about 0.09% of American Water Works worth $22,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,682,280,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,564,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $665,163,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Water Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in American Water Works by 1,131.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,320 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,120,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,798,000 after purchasing an additional 18,586 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $137.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.52. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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, UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

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.