Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 360 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.8 %

AWK opened at $142.18 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.54. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $152.07. The stock has a market cap of $27.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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.

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.