St. Clair Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,000 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

St. Clair Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after buying an additional 1,736,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $71,120,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in American Water Works by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AWK. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.5%

American Water Works stock opened at $142.54 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $144.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.97. 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 Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

About American Water Works

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.