American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.86.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $146.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,548,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,116. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.21. The company has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Remove Ads

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Water Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,418,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $300,739,000 after acquiring an additional 125,128 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $277,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Water Works by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. Institutional investors 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.