Vanguard Group Inc. Has $3.13 Billion Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,582 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.88% of American Water Works worth $3,125,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth 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 raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $71,120,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after buying an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $139.32 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AWK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.