American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,297,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 292,371 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $161,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 695,474 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,120,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after purchasing an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $140.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.51. 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 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $152.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current 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.