Natural Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in American Water Works by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in American Water Works by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $734,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $149.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $127.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.40. The firm has a market cap of $29.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $152.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.57.

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.