Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 3,463 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK – Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,463 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,125,598,000 after buying an additional 217,582 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in American Water Works by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,003,000 after buying an additional 335,683 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,142,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,205,000 after purchasing an additional 414,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,592,000 after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AWK shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (up from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.67.

Get Our Latest Research Report on American Water Works

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $142.30 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

American Water Works Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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