Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 98 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 420,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,446,000 after purchasing an additional 29,100 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 52.6% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 19,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 6,562 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 350.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 10,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 8,060 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,610,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.29.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $137.31 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.73.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.