American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Trimmed by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,635 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,463 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 217,582 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $579,981,000 after buying an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in American Water Works by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,142,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $391,205,000 after buying an additional 414,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,592,000 after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AWK. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $156.00 price objective (up from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:AWK opened at $142.30 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $141.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.68. 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 market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.49.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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