Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 57.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 441,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 592,820 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $54,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,739,000 after buying an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $277,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $1,783,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 3.0 %

American Water Works stock opened at $147.36 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.49. The firm has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The company 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%. On average, analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

About American Water Works

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.