Swiss National Bank Decreases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 608,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.31% of American Water Works worth $80,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 238.5% in the 4th quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,170,000 after buying an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 120,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,855,000 after buying an additional 6,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 761,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,560,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $128.75 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $151.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.40%.

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.