Avanza Fonder AB Cuts Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Avanza Fonder AB trimmed its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,616 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 440,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,815,000 after purchasing an additional 6,778 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. UBS Group lowered American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $141.24 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.74.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works 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.