Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $129.00 to $133.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.28% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $132.63 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $124.87 and its 200 day moving average is $134.83. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 22.44%. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,592,000 after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $71,120,000. 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.