American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Given New $133.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $129.00 to $133.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised shares of 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 note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.6 %

AWK opened at $128.66 on Thursday. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.91 and a 200-day moving average of $134.87. The stock has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued 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 yield of 2.38%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.59%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.