American Water Works’ (AWK) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $169.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.28% from the stock’s previous close.

AWK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on American Water Works from $140.00 to $139.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of American Water Works from $152.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.83.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AWK stock traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 117,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,001,199. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $122.77 and a 52 week high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.82. The company has a market cap of $27.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.57.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 22.08%. The company’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Avion Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

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 1,600 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.4 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.