ABLE Financial Group LLC Buys 644 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 14,944.4% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 384,836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK traded up $3.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $135.84. The stock had a trading volume of 180,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,219. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.79.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AWK. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

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.