Avanza Fonder AB Sells 4,616 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Avanza Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $1,715,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 440,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,815,000 after acquiring an additional 6,778 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American Water Works Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $141.31. 709,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,218,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.80. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.