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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a "strong sell" to a "sell," keeping the stock in negative-rated territory despite the less severe view.
• The market consensus remains a "Hold" (1 Buy, 9 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $141.20 and recent analyst targets ranging roughly in the low-to-mid $100s.
• American Water slightly missed quarterly estimates—$1.24 EPS vs. $1.28 expected and $1.27B revenue vs. $1.29B—and set FY2026 guidance of 6.02–6.12 EPS, in line with analyst expectations of about 6.09 EPS.

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

AWK has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $137.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.20.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.8%

American Water Works stock opened at $132.59 on Friday. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $121.28 and a 52 week high of $150.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $135.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.74.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. American Water Works's revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter worth $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter worth $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 71.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Company Profile

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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