American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co cut its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in American Water Works by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in American Water Works by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after buying an additional 42,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $1,783,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.6 %

American Water Works stock opened at $135.01 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.52. 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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