Motco Buys 479 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Motco grew its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 3.4% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 0.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $134.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.52. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.77%.

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.