Gotham Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $142.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $144.26 and a 200-day moving average of $134.97.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 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 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio 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.