American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $142.29 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.29.

AWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $124.49 on Friday. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $132.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 60.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 155.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 446.2% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.