Wells Fargo & Company Lowers American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) to Underweight

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $138.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $127.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $141.17.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $147.41 on Wednesday. American Water Works has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $148.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.52. The firm has a market cap of $28.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share 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 9.66%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 100.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.