APG Asset Management N.V. Raises Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 27.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 517,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110,480 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.27% of American Water Works worth $62,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter worth approximately $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,115,000 after purchasing an additional 395,684 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $143.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. American Water Works’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

About American Water Works

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.