American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 65.5% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $141.68 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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.