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

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.67.

A number of research firms have commented on AWK. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $156.00 price objective (up from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,570 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 45.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 21.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.5%

AWK traded up $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.88. 1,934,444 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,243,832. The stock has a market cap of $27.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $141.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.49.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. American Water Works's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's payout ratio is 60.29%.

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.