American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $138.11 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $138.1111.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised 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 have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $126.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $120.57 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.65.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.895 dividend. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.48%.

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.