Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys New Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,893,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $8,123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,783,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 77,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,647,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AWK shares. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Four 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $146.81. 724,564 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,195,309. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The company's 50 day moving average is $144.76 and its 200 day moving average is $134.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's 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.