American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Lessened by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,334 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter worth approximately $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,750,000 after purchasing an additional 534,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 631.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,192,000 after buying an additional 384,836 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AWK. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $132.11 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $141.44 and its 200-day moving average is $137.25. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 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.