Sabal Trust CO Purchases Shares of 2,245 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sabal Trust CO purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 8,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 4,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $118.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,318. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.25 and a fifty-two week high of $153.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $120.43 and its 200-day moving average is $124.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $23.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.63.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.30% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company 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.