Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $1.22 Million Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 783 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $71,120,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $147.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.28. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on AWK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.86.

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.