American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 21.26%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.57. The company had a trading volume of 603,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,992,364. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.37. The company has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. American Water Works has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $146.62.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.8950 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $162.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Water Works from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.88.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its regulated businesses, the company supplies drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, and manages related infrastructure, including treatment plants, pipelines, storage facilities and customer service systems.

Founded in 1886, American Water has grown into one of the largest water and wastewater service providers in the United States.