American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $141.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.00.

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

American Water Works Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $121.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $128.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in American Water Works by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.