Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Acquires 2,440 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 50,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in American Water Works by 65.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $1,783,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in American Water Works by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 969,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,709,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $123.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.17. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho cut shares of 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.38.

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.