American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.77 on December 3rd

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.765 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

American Water Works has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. American Water Works has a dividend payout ratio of 53.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect American Water Works to earn $5.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.8%.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $135.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $142.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.10. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AWK. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% 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.