KBC Group NV Sells 37,547 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,547 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.24% of American Water Works worth $58,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 1,131.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,320 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,750,000 after buying an additional 534,411 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 268.0% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 631.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,192,000 after acquiring an additional 384,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $130.03 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $25.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.85.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

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.