Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $936,000 Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,682,280,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,564,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $665,163,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,120,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,798,000 after purchasing an additional 18,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $134.12 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $26.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.52.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

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.