American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have assigned an average rating of "Reduce" to American Water Works (NYSE: AWK), with three sell, six hold, and one buy recommendation, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock.
• The company reported a miss in earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter at $1.48, below the consensus estimate of $1.53, despite revenue increasing by 11.1% compared to the previous year.
• American Water Works announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8275, which translates to an annualized dividend of $3.31 and a yield of 2.3%, highlighting ongoing shareholder returns.

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $142.00.

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $156.00 price objective (up previously from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE AWK opened at $145.29 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $141.41 and its 200 day moving average is $139.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.65. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.64%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.

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