Amundi Buys 477,411 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Amundi boosted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 2.30% of American Water Works worth $553,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in American Water Works by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $145.61 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $127.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current 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.