St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Cuts Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC reduced its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 416 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 378,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,854,000 after acquiring an additional 4,563 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $344,000. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $734,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $135.50. 1,763,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,677,461. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $151.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Evercore ISI downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.