American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $138.1111.

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. 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. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $124.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 2.65 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Analysts predict that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.48%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,219,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $290,729,000 after buying an additional 47,977 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 85,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,967,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 489,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,863,000 after buying an additional 47,352 shares in the last quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $1,559,000. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 80.1% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 281,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,133,000 after buying an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.