Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook for AWK Q1 Earnings

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of American Water Works in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 12th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.22 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.19. The consensus estimate for American Water Works’ current full-year earnings is $5.71 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for American Water Works’ FY2026 earnings at $6.13 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $6.44 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AWK. StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.3 %

AWK opened at $144.43 on Friday. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $152.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.24 and a 200-day moving average of $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. The company has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,125,598,000 after buying an additional 217,582 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in American Water Works by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,682,280,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,981,000 after buying an additional 106,857 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in American Water Works by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,687,000 after buying an additional 477,411 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in American Water Works by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,003,000 after buying an additional 335,683 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by 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.