American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.77

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.765 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

American Water Works has increased its dividend by an average of 8.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 17 years. American Water Works has a dividend payout ratio of 53.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect American Water Works to earn $5.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.8%.

American Water Works Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $136.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.88. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About American Water Works

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.