Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in American Water Works by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 420,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,446,000 after purchasing an additional 29,100 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 52.6% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 19,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 6,562 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in American Water Works by 350.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 10,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 8,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,610,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.29.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $137.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $140.05 and its 200 day moving average is $137.73. The firm has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

American Water Works Profile

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.