Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC cut its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,682,280,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,564,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $665,163,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,245,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,354,000 after purchasing an additional 143,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on 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 raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3 %

AWK stock opened at $126.69 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $24.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $129.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.08. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. 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.