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

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.60.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 worth $925,605,000 after buying an additional 6,882,575 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $337,004,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $847,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,683 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 383.0% during 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 valued at $361,355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in 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 valued at $311,487,000 after acquiring an additional 657,849 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE AWK opened at $134.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.61. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.75. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.48%.

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.