Brokerages Set American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Target Price at $140.00

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.57.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $132.63 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.76. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after buying an additional 1,736,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $71,120,000. 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.