New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AWK stock opened at $136.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.43. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Profile

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.