R Squared Ltd Invests $67,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,320 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 14,944.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,750,000 after buying an additional 534,411 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 631.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,192,000 after acquiring an additional 384,836 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AWK. Mizuho lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.38.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $124.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.54. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 60.59%.

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.