American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.60.

American Water Works Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AWK stock opened at $137.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.61. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. American Water Works’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3,274.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $925,605,000 after buying an additional 6,882,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $337,004,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $847,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,683 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 383.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,596,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,386,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,487,000 after purchasing an additional 657,849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

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.