Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 446.2% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AWK opened at $126.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $129.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.97. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.