Shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.01.
AWK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.41 to $82.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, May 25th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. BidaskClub upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Vetr upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.36 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 1st.
Shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) traded up 0.53% during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.08. 772,482 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The firm has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58 and a beta of 0.25. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $69.41 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.00 and a 200-day moving average of $77.25.
American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $844 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $869.52 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post $3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th will be given a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 7th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.64%.
In other news, SVP Loyd A. Warnock sold 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.21, for a total value of $94,990.23. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $530,606.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Pennsylvania Trust Co raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% in the first quarter. Pennsylvania Trust Co now owns 9,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.2% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 157,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,161,000 after buying an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 57,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,501,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Charter Trust Co. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 35.2% in the first quarter. Charter Trust Co. now owns 6,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 155,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,113,000 after buying an additional 6,216 shares during the last quarter. 81.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
American Water Works Company Profile
American Water Works Company, Inc is a holding company for regulated and market-based subsidiaries throughout the United States and Ontario, Canada. The Company’s Regulated Businesses segment provides water and wastewater services as public utilities in 16 states in the United States as of December 31, 2016.
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