American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Water Works from $149.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded American Water Works from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.29.

American Water Works Stock Up 2.2 %

American Water Works stock opened at $140.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.56. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $122.77 and a 52 week high of $173.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $931.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $923.74 million. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 21.62%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in American Water Works by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,268,000 after purchasing an additional 30,316 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 78,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,996,000 after purchasing an additional 19,512 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 53.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,960,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,635,157,000 after buying an additional 434,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. 83.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Water Works

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American Water Works Co, Inc engages in the provision of complementary water and wastewater services. It operates through the following segments: Regulated Businesses, Market-Based Businesses, and Other. The Regulated Businesses segment offers water and wastewater services to customers. The Market-Based Businesses segment includes the military services group, which enters into long-term contracts with the U.S.