American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Position Raised by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 625,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 125,474 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.32% of American Water Works worth $77,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $300,739,000 after acquiring an additional 125,128 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $277,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in American Water Works by 3.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased 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 worth $5,261,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $1,783,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,115,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,084. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.77.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's payout ratio is presently 56.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

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.