Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,249,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 1.15% of American Water Works worth $278,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 155.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective 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, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.38.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $125.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $125.67 and its 200 day moving average is $135.66. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 60.59%.

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.