Swedbank AB Purchases 42,094 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of American Water Works worth $15,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 19,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 6,562 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in American Water Works by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 420,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,446,000 after buying an additional 29,100 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 7,988 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,853 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works 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 transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.29.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $137.63 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $139.56 and a 200 day moving average of $137.80. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works's payout ratio is 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.