Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in American Water Works by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in American Water Works by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 77,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,647,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in American Water Works by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 50,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $419,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AWK shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $142.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.97.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 60.29%.

American Water Works Company 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.