American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to Hold

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

AWK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $140.33.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1 %

AWK opened at $149.12 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.51. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $29.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

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.