American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $143.30.

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $140.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.15. The firm has a market cap of $27.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 881.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,704,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $546,562,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,352 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $344,645,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 24.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $668,566,000 after acquiring an additional 878,951 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 114.3% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,505,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 802,639 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in American Water Works by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.