3,367 Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,321,320 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings 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 worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 14,944.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,750,000 after purchasing an additional 534,411 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $66,868,000 after purchasing an additional 391,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $65,192,000 after purchasing an additional 384,836 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AWK opened at $121.86 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.94. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid 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 yield of 2.51%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.