American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

by · The Cerbat Gem

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.86.

View Our Latest Report on AWK

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $142.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.52. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $152.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Free Report) last issued 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 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,123,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 294.0% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 6,439 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $37,313,000. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 8,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

(Get Free Report)

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.

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