American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $142.29.

AWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $124.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.70. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.9% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Invesco LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently 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.