National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,374 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.10% of American Water Works worth $24,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in American Water Works by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,624,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $695,850,000 after purchasing an additional 129,005 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,591,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $444,790,000 after acquiring an additional 124,815 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,974,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,336,000 after acquiring an additional 32,975 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,831,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $350,640,000 after acquiring an additional 267,987 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,624,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $325,038,000 after acquiring an additional 118,221 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AWK. Evercore ISI downgraded American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded up $1.59 on Tuesday, hitting $131.84. 1,597,597 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,497,985. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $151.24. The stock has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.06 and a 200 day moving average of $124.63.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. American Water Works's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.