American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target Cut to $128.00 by Analysts at Barclays

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Barclays from $138.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential downside of 10.00% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group cut American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.67.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $142.23. 948,450 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,238,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.44. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $141.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.10.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. American Water Works's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

About American Water Works

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.