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

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $127.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.06. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.59%.

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.