American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Now Covered by TD Cowen

TD Cowen began coverage on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $155.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AWK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Argus increased their target price on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Cowen started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $143.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.08. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 59.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Obermeyer Wealth Partners raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 76 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, 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.