Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 59.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in American Water Works by 5.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,268,000 after purchasing an additional 30,316 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 33.1% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 78,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,996,000 after buying an additional 19,512 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,960,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,635,157,000 after acquiring an additional 434,737 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in American Water Works by 115.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $115.40 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.99. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

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.