Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,557,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $266,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.0 %

AWK stock opened at $118.52 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.12.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

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.