American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.4444.

AWK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $149.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cowen began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in American Water Works during the third quarter worth $28,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $129.04 on Wednesday. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $25.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.28.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.93%.American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.17%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.