American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target Lowered to $130.00 at Truist Financial

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price objective lowered by Truist Financial from $137.00 to $130.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

AWK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.8%

AWK stock opened at $123.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $121.28 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.08. The stock has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.