American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stake Reduced by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in American Water Works by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 36,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $177,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in American Water Works by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 25,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 334.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $139.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group raised shares of 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 note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

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.