Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Takes $546,000 Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,109,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $262,601,000 after buying an additional 17,673 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $5,407,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 44,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,490,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in American Water Works by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 54,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,780,000 after buying an additional 8,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $358,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.5%

American Water Works stock traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $141.29. 348,215 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,500,651. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.14. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The firm has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.