Sciencast Management LP Invests $507,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the third quarter worth $227,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.0% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 13.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 15.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.6 %

American Water Works stock opened at $140.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.33 and its 200-day moving average is $134.51. 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 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) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. 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.