LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Cuts Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. by 41.5%, selling 4,274 shares.
• Other hedge funds, including Pictet Asset Management and Bank of America, have increased their holdings in American Water Works, indicating a mixed sentiment among institutional investors.
• American Water Works recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $3.31 and a dividend yield of 2.3%.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. trimmed its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 41.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,274 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,248,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,724,624,000 after purchasing an additional 141,038 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 24.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $668,566,000 after purchasing an additional 878,951 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,592,000 after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,109,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $262,601,000 after purchasing an additional 17,673 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AWK. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.30.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.79. The company had a trading volume of 923,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,929. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.29. The company has a market cap of $28.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.65. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is 59.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Water Works Company 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.