Norden Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Norden Group LLC increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2,436.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,678 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,838,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 7,752.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 483,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,803,000 after purchasing an additional 477,235 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 12,606.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 463,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $612,320,000 after buying an additional 460,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $127.96 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.67. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.33.

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.