American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Posted by George Bondi on Jul 27th, 2026

Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Free Report) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

AWK has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial cut their price target on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.60.

View Our Latest Research Report on AWK

American Water Works Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AWK stock opened at $134.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.77. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 5.4% in the third quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Water Works

(Get Free Report)

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.