New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 44,336 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,336 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.18% of American Water Works worth $48,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,629,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,565,269,000 after acquiring an additional 380,870 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,430,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,590,147,000 after purchasing an additional 286,053 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $685,662,000 after purchasing an additional 103,595 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,926,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,951,000 after purchasing an additional 179,127 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,442,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $478,817,000 after purchasing an additional 494,868 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Mizuho set a $145.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.89.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $129.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.42. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.39 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $130.53 and a 200 day moving average of $136.02.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.93%.The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.