American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Holdings Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 129.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 502,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 283,579 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of American Water Works worth $73,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 446.2% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AWK shares. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.29.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $125.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.79. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued 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 (DPR) 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.