Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 93,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,363 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $11,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,120,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after acquiring an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 391,166 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $144.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.54. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.07. The firm has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Company 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.