ING Groep NV Purchases 19,131 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

ING Groep NV raised its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 332.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,131 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 13.0% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 16,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 4.2% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in American Water Works by 25.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $132.63 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 56.77%.

American Water Works 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.