American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,957,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in American Water Works by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in American Water Works by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after acquiring an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $144.86 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $152.07. 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 company has a market cap of $28.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.47.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current 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.