First Merchants Corp Has $1.86 Million Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

First Merchants Corp cut its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,919 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% in 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 period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.2% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 3.4% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 31.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 32,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $126.79 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.47.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.