American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target Lowered to $126.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $142.00 to $126.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.69% from the company’s current price.

AWK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho set a $145.00 target price on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group set a $149.00 price target on American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.60.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of American Water Works stock traded down $2.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.83. 360,569 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,540,231. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.68. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $120.63 and a 52-week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 138.1% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 245.4% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,127 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 10.7% during 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. Mirabaud & Cie SA raised its position in American Water Works by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 10,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in American Water Works by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.