Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 171,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,493 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $21,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,774,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Terra Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $1,272,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $144.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $152.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.49. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. 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.