Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Makes New Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in 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 period. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $71,120,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% in 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 period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $140.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $152.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.51.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

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.