Sycomore Asset Management Boosts Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Water Works by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 10,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 5,277 shares in the last quarter. BKA Wealth Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,386,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $121.36. 1,271,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,458,714. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $152.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $119.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.20.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The transaction 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 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.