Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,007 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.06% of American Water Works worth $13,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,313,000 after buying an additional 1,321,320 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after buying an additional 391,166 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 631.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,192,000 after buying an additional 384,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 3.1 %

AWK stock opened at $132.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.87 and its 200 day moving average is $134.83.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 56.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities 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 company currently 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.