American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Holdings Increased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 54.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $147.36 on Monday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.28.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Friday. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

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.