F M Investments LLC Buys New Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in American Water Works by 7,752.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 483,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,803,000 after acquiring an additional 477,235 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 12,606.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 463,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $612,320,000 after acquiring an additional 460,262 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in American Water Works by 174.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 518,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,218,000 after acquiring an additional 329,469 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 7,062.8% during the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 318,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,417,000 after acquiring an additional 313,872 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 1,173.5% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 336,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,687,000 after acquiring an additional 310,214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.60 on Tuesday, hitting $119.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,838. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $152.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $119.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.63.

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

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.