Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 38,346 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,774,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $300,739,000 after acquiring 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. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,261,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in American Water Works by 65.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,557,000 after buying an additional 42,094 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.86.

Remove Ads

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $140.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,605,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,972. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.07.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

About American Water Works

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.