American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $155.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $151.00. UBS Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 12.16% from the stock's current price.

AWK has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.29.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.1 %

American Water Works stock traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $138.19. 1,584,993 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,200,481. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $140.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in American Water Works by 2.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 63,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the third quarter worth approximately $713,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,564,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $665,163,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the third quarter worth approximately $538,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its position in American Water Works by 32.6% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. 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.