Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 155.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in American Water Works by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 446.2% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $121.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.78. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.59%.

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.