Smith Moore & CO. Grows Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Smith Moore & CO. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after buying an additional 125,128 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AWK. StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $147.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $135.56 and its 200 day moving average is $134.49. The stock has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

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.