Analysts Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) PT at $140.11

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.1111.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 21,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 9,698 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at $1,347,000. Capital Innovations LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $4,700,000. Jericho Financial LLP bought a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at $3,506,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 69,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,142,000 after purchasing an additional 14,363 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $137.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.75. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $120.57 and a 12-month high of $145.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.59.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.35%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a water and wastewater utility company that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial and public-sector customers. Through its regulated operations, the company treats and distributes drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, and manages related infrastructure such as pipelines, treatment plants, storage facilities and pumping stations.

The company also provides water and wastewater services to military installations and operates businesses serving municipalities and other public-sector customers.