American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,007 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $13,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.83. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68.

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

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.