Patten & Patten Inc. TN Trims Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN cut its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,605 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,664,000. HMV Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,000. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 89,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,198,000 after buying an additional 15,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 12,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AWK opened at $144.43 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.45. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued 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 net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. On average, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.86.

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.