American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $7,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,457,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 36,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in American Water Works by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 25,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 334.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AWK. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $137.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $126.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.37. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

About American Water Works

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.