American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 440,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,778 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of American Water Works worth $54,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the 3rd 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 boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third 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 increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,750,000 after purchasing an additional 534,411 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 268.0% in 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. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 631.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.38.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $123.16 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.78. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio 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.