American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $164.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $140.29.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $147.23 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The firm has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 1.6% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in American Water Works by 2.0% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in American Water Works by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,581,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC raised its position in American Water Works by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 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.