Wells Fargo & Company Cuts American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target to $141.00

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $147.00 to $141.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AWK. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (up previously from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $145.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $141.24 and a 200 day moving average of $139.32. The company has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.65. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in American Water Works by 4.8% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 5.0% in the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 1.4% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Water Works

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 3.5 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.