American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target Raised to $165.00

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its target price upped by Argus from $155.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AWK. Huntington cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.12.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.3%

AWK opened at $149.55 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $120.57 and a twelve month high of $153.69. The firm has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.8950 per share. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.05%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

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

Trending Headlines about American Water Works

Here are a few of the latest headlines about AWK:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus issued a positive forecast for AWK’s share price, providing a favorable analyst signal. Argus Issues Positive Forecast for American Water Works Stock Price
• Neutral Sentiment: West Virginia American Water announced $580,000 of infrastructure upgrades in Oak Hill. The project reflects ongoing investment in the utility’s system, but its modest scale is unlikely to materially affect company-wide results. West Virginia American Water Announces Oak Hill Upgrades
• Negative Sentiment: A valuation article said AWK could be 31% overvalued even after merger approval, a potential concern for investors weighing the stock’s upside against its current valuation. American Water Works Stock Could Be 31% Overvalued

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc. is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services. The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Through contracted operations, it also provides water and wastewater services to certain military installations and municipal customers.