American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $139.1111.

Several research firms have weighed in on AWK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $137.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in American Water Works by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 350,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,782,000 after acquiring an additional 44,336 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in American Water Works by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 85,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Water Works by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,219,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,729,000 after acquiring an additional 47,977 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in American Water Works by 10.7% during the 4th 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. Finally, Middleton & Co. Inc. MA grew its holdings in American Water Works by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 33,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,664,000 after acquiring an additional 12,114 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $124.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34. American Water Works has a one year low of $121.28 and a one year high of $147.87. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.