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

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $138.1111.

Several analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $131.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.52.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

About American Water Works

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.