Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes $1.72 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,715,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 14,944.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,750,000 after acquiring an additional 534,411 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 268.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 391,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 631.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 445,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,192,000 after acquiring an additional 384,836 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.38.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AWK traded down $1.11 on Friday, hitting $125.76. 1,698,820 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,321. The stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.27 and a 200-day moving average of $135.41. 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 Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.