American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $141.86 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.86.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $139.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $137.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 26.8% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 15,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,602,000 after buying an additional 2,496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.