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

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AWK opened at $121.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $128.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

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.