American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target Raised to $148.00 at Evercore ISI

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $139.00 to $148.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AWK stock opened at $147.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 56.77%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Water Works by 5.5% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $8,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in American Water Works by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $1,783,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.