American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,504 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $7,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in American Water Works by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $125.76 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.20.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.59%.

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.