American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Holdings Decreased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC reduced its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 342,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 33,881 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $42,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings 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 valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $277,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,123,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $148.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $139.75 and a 200-day moving average of $134.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.09 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The company has a market cap of $28.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results 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. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.