Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Purchases 1,510 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 58.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,125,598,000 after acquiring an additional 217,582 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised 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 worth $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $395,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.5% during 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 buying an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $147.36 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.56 and its 200 day moving average is $134.28. 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 Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Sell-side analysts predict 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.