E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Raises Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.9% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.38.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.2 %

AWK stock opened at $123.58 on Thursday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $126.79 and its 200 day moving average is $136.17. The stock has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. 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.