Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 120.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.63% of American Water Works worth $395,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in American Water Works by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,682,280,000 after purchasing an additional 214,082 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.0% in the third 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in American Water Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,153,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $143,563,000 after purchasing an additional 33,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,034,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $145,170,000 after purchasing an additional 29,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,437,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,349,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $126.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.37.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.77%.

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.