Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,567 shares during the period. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $8,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 376,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,037,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter worth about $716,000. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new position in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at about $221,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,034,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $145,170,000 after purchasing an additional 29,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 129.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 502,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,470,000 after purchasing an additional 283,579 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $147.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.82. The company has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.77%.

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.