American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Receives “Neutral” Rating from UBS Group

UBS Group reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $160.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $145.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $28.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.51.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in American Water Works by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,739,000 after acquiring an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake 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 worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.