Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,877 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 376,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,560 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,465,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,638,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AWK. Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $142.54 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $144.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. American Water Works's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

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.

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