American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.57.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday.

American Water Works Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of AWK stock opened at $132.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.76. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its position in American Water Works by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in American Water Works by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 83,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $255,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in American Water Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 48,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,087,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

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.