Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,321,320 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1,131.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,321,320 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $210,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,422,000 after buying an additional 247,745 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,245,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $328,354,000 after buying an additional 143,914 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.1% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,588,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,120,000 after acquiring an additional 32,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AWK traded down $1.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $133.13. 185,653 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.20.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.