American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Bank of America

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $139.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.64% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AWK. Barclays dropped their price target on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Cowen began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho set a $145.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $149.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $127.94 on Monday. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in American Water Works by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,762 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in American Water Works by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,084,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 69,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,311,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 13.3% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 133,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,624,000 after buying an additional 15,632 shares in 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 (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.