Blankinship & Foster LLC Takes Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in American Water Works by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $145.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $150.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.43.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, 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

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

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.