American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Trading Up 5.4% – Still a Buy?

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)’s stock price shot up 5.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $127.77 and last traded at $128.14. 787,133 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 1,010,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American Water Works Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.48 and a 200 day moving average of $136.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,557,000 after acquiring an additional 42,094 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 969,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,709,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.