Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 19,000 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after acquiring an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in American Water Works by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in American Water Works by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,557,000 after acquiring an additional 42,094 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,783,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.6 %

American Water Works stock opened at $135.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.40 and a 200 day moving average of $134.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AWK. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

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.