American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock Price Up 2.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) traded up 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $145.90 and last traded at $146.08. 144,076 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,139,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

American Water Works Trading Up 2.3 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% 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 1,700 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.