Bank of America Corp DE Has $335.59 Million Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $335,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 54.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AWK. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $148.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $144.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.95. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. 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.