American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $137.88

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold” for American Water Works, with seven hold ratings, one buy, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $137.88, below the reported share price of $147.57.
• Institutional investors own 86.58% of the stock, with BlackRock initiating a roughly $2.7 billion position and Wellington Management increasing its stake by 35.2%.
• American Water Works missed quarterly expectations, reporting $2.00 in EPS versus $2.04 expected and revenue of $1.51 billion versus $1.58 billion forecast. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.895 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $137.88.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Water Works from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $149.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $139.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,712,173,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Water Works by 35.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,911,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,962,116,000 after buying an additional 3,883,057 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth $1,171,477,000. Amundi boosted its stake in American Water Works by 4.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,351,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $592,081,000 after buying an additional 179,127 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter worth $443,787,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $147.57 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $135.80 and its 200 day moving average is $132.52. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.8950 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works's payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its regulated businesses, the company supplies drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, and manages related infrastructure, including treatment plants, pipelines, storage facilities and customer service systems.

Founded in 1886, American Water has grown into one of the largest water and wastewater service providers in the United States.

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