American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation lessened its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 30.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,678 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,313,000 after buying an additional 1,321,320 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,868,000 after buying an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth $43,872,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 129.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 502,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,470,000 after buying an additional 283,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $139.48 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.36.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 56.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

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.