American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $142.00 Consensus PT from Brokerages

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $143.22.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in American Water Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $300,739,000 after purchasing an additional 125,128 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,123,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,261,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,115,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,205,964. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $143.69 and a 200 day moving average of $134.76. American Water Works has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.