American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $129.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $133.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AWK. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $122.52 on Tuesday. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.21. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.