BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Raises Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AWK. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $131.71. 71,555 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,343,435. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $151.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.16 and a 200-day moving average of $125.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.