American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Cut to "Strong Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from a sell rating to a Strong Sell in a report released Saturday.
• Despite the downgrade, the analyst consensus remains a Hold with an average price target of $140.89, and analysts are mixed — Bank of America upgraded to Neutral (PT raised to $139) while Wells Fargo trimmed its PT to $126 and kept an Equal Weight rating.
• American Water missed the latest quarterly estimates (EPS $1.24 vs. $1.28 expected; revenue $1.27B vs. $1.29B) but issued FY2026 guidance of 6.020–6.120 EPS, above the Street's ~5.71 EPS forecast.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

AWK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Water Works from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.89.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $131.54 on Friday. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $121.28 and a fifty-two week high of $150.51. The company has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $134.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.11.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.61% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,650,543,000 after purchasing an additional 597,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in American Water Works by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,570,936,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $925,605,000 after acquiring an additional 6,882,575 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $847,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $655,025,000 after purchasing an additional 33,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

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.

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