Choate Investment Advisors Has $1.04 Million Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Choate Investment Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,120,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after buying an additional 477,411 shares during the period. 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $144.43 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.86.

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.