American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $140.57 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.86.

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $1,123,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 294.0% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 6,439 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,313,000. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 8,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $144.43 on Thursday. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $152.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.