American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Raised to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

AWK has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.60.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.0%

AWK stock opened at $135.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $120.57 and a twelve month high of $147.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in American Water Works in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. 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.