Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $90,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $2,606,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $936,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $774,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in American Water Works by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 20,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $134.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.52.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

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.