Fiduciary Alliance LLC Grows Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,320 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,750,000 after acquiring an additional 534,411 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,868,000 after buying an additional 391,166 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $119.41. The stock had a trading volume of 114,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,025. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

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.