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

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $164.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $140.29.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.2 %

American Water Works stock opened at $147.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.85.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after buying an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in American Water Works during the first quarter worth $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,115,000 after purchasing an additional 395,684 shares in 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.