PGGM Investments Acquires 15,651 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 15,651 shares during the period. PGGM Investments owned about 0.08% of American Water Works worth $21,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 47.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 34,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,213,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in American Water Works by 150.0% during the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 750 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in American Water Works by 13.1% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 84,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,497,000 after purchasing an additional 9,796 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 14.5% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Personal Financial Services increased its stake in American Water Works by 6.2% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 69,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $120.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,058,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,517. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $119.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.20. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $151.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.63.

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

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.