American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $129.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $133.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $122.52 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $130.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.21. The company has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.71. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week 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.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter worth $51,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 446.2% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 25.0% in the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.