Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Acquires 200 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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 upgraded American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $140.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day moving average is $134.46. 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 Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $152.07.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.