American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Lessened by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 857 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $232,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in American Water Works by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 6,504 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $498,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.38.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $125.06 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $125.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.47. The firm has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.