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

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.0% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 11.3% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 48,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,944 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 8.5% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 18.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 121,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,779,000 after purchasing an additional 19,244 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $132.84 on Friday. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.79. The company has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

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.