American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stake Boosted by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $136.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.43.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.77%.

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.