Cerity Partners LLC Has $41.27 Million Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 282,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,785 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $41,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in 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 subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.29.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AWK opened at $137.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $140.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.73.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 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.