Brokerages Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) PT at $141.17

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.17.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in American Water Works by 3.7% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $890,422,000 after buying an additional 247,745 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $261,949,000 after buying an additional 25,887 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $140.42. 521,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,252,906. The company has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $149.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.36.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. American Water Works's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

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.