Brokerages Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Target Price at $141.44

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.4444.

AWK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $127.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.20 and a 200-day moving average of $137.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.76. American Water Works has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Werlinich Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.4% in the third quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.