American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,019 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,550 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.15% of American Water Works worth $35,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 353,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,716,000 after purchasing an additional 36,424 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,920,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,244,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 6,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. cut 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK traded down $4.60 on Friday, reaching $147.36. 3,275,354 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,095. The stock has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $135.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.28. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS 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.