Analysts Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) PT at $140.60

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.10.

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in American Water Works by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 489,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,863,000 after acquiring an additional 47,352 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 21,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 9,698 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth about $1,347,000. TSP Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its position in American Water Works by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 178,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,307,000 after purchasing an additional 11,401 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $134.47 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $129.54 and a 200 day moving average of $131.04. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.61.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

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.