American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Water Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $133.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $126.31 on Wednesday. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.71. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.07.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 14,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $1,005,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,939,000 after purchasing an additional 6,454 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shilanski & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 26,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.