American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.8889.

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $149.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $337,004,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 2,539,683 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 383.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,596,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,355,000 after buying an additional 2,058,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in American Water Works by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,386,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,487,000 after acquiring an additional 657,849 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1%

American Water Works stock opened at $136.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $121.28 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.77.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.61% and a return on equity of 10.38%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

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.