1,478 Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 155.6% during the 3rd 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 period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.29.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $137.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.73. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.