South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWK. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $121.56 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $152.04. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 22.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.