Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 9,427 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,427 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of American Water Works worth $63,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $189,177,000 after buying an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter worth $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 534,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $65,192,000 after purchasing an additional 384,836 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AWK traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $134.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,496,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,197,969. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.22.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

American Water Works Company 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.