LGT Group Foundation Reduces Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

LGT Group Foundation cut its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,678 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in American Water Works by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $139.48 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.36.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given 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 yield of 2.19%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

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.