Stephens Inc. AR Buys 332 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,320 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,750,000 after purchasing an additional 534,411 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 268.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,868,000 after purchasing an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in American Water Works by 631.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,192,000 after purchasing an additional 384,836 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given 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 $139.38.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AWK opened at $126.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.38 and a 200-day moving average of $135.47.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

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.