American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Natixis

Natixis lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,834 shares during the period. Natixis owned about 0.09% of American Water Works worth $20,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,120,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $553,687,000 after acquiring an additional 477,411 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,142,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $391,205,000 after acquiring an additional 414,568 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on 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. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on 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 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.38.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AWK traded down $2.03 on Wednesday, hitting $147.23. 1,510,816 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,224,500. The stock's 50 day moving average is $141.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share 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.