Wells Fargo & Company Boosts American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target to $142.00

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $133.00 to $142.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 1.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AWK stock opened at $144.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $152.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $71,120,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.