American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Sold by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,504 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,629,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,565,269,000 after buying an additional 380,870 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in American Water Works by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,430,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,590,147,000 after acquiring an additional 286,053 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $685,662,000 after acquiring an additional 103,595 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in American Water Works by 4.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,926,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,951,000 after acquiring an additional 179,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 16.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,442,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $478,817,000 after purchasing an additional 494,868 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.89.

American Water Works Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of AWK stock opened at $133.62 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.28 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.68 and its 200-day moving average is $134.90. The stock has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.77.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.