ING Groep NV Decreases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

ING Groep NV lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 60.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,855 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in American Water Works were worth $842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 153.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 18.1% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 24,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 3,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 52.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.00.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $2.33 during trading on Monday, reaching $136.56. 928,964 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,196,412. 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 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.49. The firm has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works's 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.