Quest Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 1,554 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth $46,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $137.63 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $139.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.80. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid 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 2.22%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.