American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,930 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $9,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in American Water Works by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 718,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,761,000 after purchasing an additional 70,205 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $875,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Water Works by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in American Water Works by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 102,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,217,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 43,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,581,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

American Water Works Stock Down 3.7 %

AWK stock opened at $121.67 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.05. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. 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.