American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.8889.

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,762 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $223,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.0%

American Water Works stock opened at $134.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.44. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $121.28 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.29. The firm has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.77.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 21.61%.The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.17%.

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.