American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $141.13 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.1250.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Argus lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Saturday, September 27th.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $137.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.86 and a 200-day moving average of $142.15.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 59.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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.