Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 571,290 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 571,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $71,120,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Water Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $277,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 65.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after acquiring an additional 42,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 5.4 %

NYSE AWK opened at $145.61 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.33. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, 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 (NYSE:AWK) last released its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

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.