American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $151.32 and last traded at $151.8980, with a volume of 82,201 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $149.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $153.00 to $162.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Huntington cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.14.

American Water Works Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.74 and a 200-day moving average of $132.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

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

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South.