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 3.4 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. It also provides water and wastewater services on various military installations; and undertakes contracts with municipal customers, primarily to operate and manage water and wastewater facilities, as well as offers other related services. In addition, the company operates approximately 80 surface water treatment plants; 480 groundwater treatment plants; 160 wastewater treatment plants; 52,500 miles of transmission, distribution, and collection mains and pipes; 1,100 groundwater wells; 1,700 water and wastewater pumping stations; 1,300 treated water storage facilities; and 76 dams. It serves approximately 14 million people with drinking water, wastewater, and other related services in 24 states. American Water Works Company, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.
American Water Works Stock Performance
Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $159.38. 10,628 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 689,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company's 50-day moving average is $148.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.07. The firm has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.43. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $129.45 and a 1-year high of $189.65.
American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. American Water Works had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 33.99%. The firm had revenue of $937.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
American Water Works Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.655 per share. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 8th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.64%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have commented on AWK shares. HSBC dropped their price target on American Water Works to $172.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 24th. Northcoast Research started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, July 18th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on American Water Works from $149.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $166.57.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 1,029 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Friday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.52, for a total transaction of $149,740.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,754,098.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.10, for a total value of $105,405.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,728,008.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 1,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.52, for a total value of $149,740.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,754,098.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.
