Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases 221 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $137.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.37.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during 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, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.77%.

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.