Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 268 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. decreased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,268,000 after buying an additional 30,316 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 78,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,996,000 after buying an additional 19,512 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 53.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,960,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,635,157,000 after buying an additional 434,737 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in American Water Works by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $115.98 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.76 and a 200 day moving average of $124.31. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.25 and a 12 month high of $152.99.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 22.30%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Evercore ISI downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

About American Water Works

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.