American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Water Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,682,280,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,564,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $665,163,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 120.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Water Works by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,153,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,563,000 after purchasing an additional 33,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $138.13 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.40. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AWK. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

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.