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 Price Performance
Shares of AWK traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $159.15. 12,362 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,225. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.06. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $129.45 and a fifty-two week high of $189.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.
American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $937.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.52 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 33.99% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
American Water Works Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 9th will be paid a $0.655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 8th. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 36.64%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, July 18th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $149.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on American Water Works from $172.00 to $157.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.00.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 693 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.10, for a total transaction of $105,405.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,728,008.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 693 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.10, for a total value of $105,405.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,008.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 1,029 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,754,098.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
