Clearbridge Investments LLC Raises Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,933 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $46,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 17.4% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter worth about $277,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter worth about $2,200,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 24.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 113,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,072,000 after purchasing an additional 22,166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AWK. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.33.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $133.70 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $151.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.62.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.