American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $140.11 According to Brokerages

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.11.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised American Water Works from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Water Works from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $128.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $135.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.06. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $145.64. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.58.

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

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.8950 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth $2,712,173,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,962,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,057 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $1,171,477,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,351,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,081,000 after purchasing an additional 179,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $443,787,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in the United States. Through its regulated operations, the company collects, treats, distributes, and manages drinking water, as well as collects and treats wastewater.

The company also provides services through businesses that support utilities, municipalities, military installations, and other public-sector customers.