American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock Rating Lowered by Mizuho

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) was downgraded by research analysts at Mizuho from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $140.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $131.00. Mizuho’s price target suggests a potential downside of 1.81% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AWK. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $142.58 on Tuesday. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $143.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 7.7% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.8% during the third quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 7.7% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 497,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,825,000 after purchasing an additional 35,752 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 65.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 106,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.