Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Acquires New Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $129.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted 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 issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.38.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

American Water Works stock opened at $126.79 on Friday. 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 Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.47.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

American Water Works Company 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.