American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded by UBS Group to “Buy” Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $155.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $151.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.29.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $138.70 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.64. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 85 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.