American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded by Bank of America to “Neutral” Rating

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $139.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 8.64% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AWK. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AWK opened at $127.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.99. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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. On average, analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 355.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 142,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,536,000 after buying an additional 110,875 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in American Water Works by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,219,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,729,000 after purchasing an additional 47,977 shares during the period. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.