American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Has Average Target Price of $137.88

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.14.

Several brokerages have commented on AWK. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $149.00 target price on American Water Works in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $153.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,712,173,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $1,171,477,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 35.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,911,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,962,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,057 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $443,787,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth about $367,632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $149.19 on Tuesday. American Water Works has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $153.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a $0.8950 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South.