Albion Financial Group UT Lowers Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Albion Financial Group UT decreased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in American Water Works by 10.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 718,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,761,000 after acquiring an additional 70,205 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at about $875,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in American Water Works by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 102,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,217,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $126.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.15 and a 200 day moving average of $137.05. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AWK. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

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.