New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 466,636 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,999 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.24% of American Water Works worth $61,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Diversified LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.5% in the third quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 20,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,590,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $1.49 on Wednesday, reaching $121.36. 1,271,510 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,458,714. The company has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $152.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $119.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.65.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 22.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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.