Analysts Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Price Target at $140.00

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.00.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $132.11 on Friday. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.25. The company has a market cap of $25.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.59%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 153.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,023,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 330.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 8,086 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 18.1% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 24,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after buying an additional 3,801 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, 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.