American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives $140.89 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.8889.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $134.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.77. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $121.28 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.31 and a 200 day moving average of $133.26.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.61% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,650,543,000 after purchasing an additional 597,916 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,570,936,000 after purchasing an additional 486,090 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $925,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882,575 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $847,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,683 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,025,000 after purchasing an additional 33,359 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.