American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Equal Weight” Rating

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $121.65 on Tuesday. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $131.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.42. The company has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 155.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Assetmark Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 25.0% during the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.