American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock Rating Cut to Market Perform at Huntington

Huntington cut shares of American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Huntington also issued estimates for American Water Works’ Q4 2026 earnings at $1.47 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $6.09 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.67 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.27 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.54 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $6.58 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $1.18 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $1.81 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $2.60 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.12 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about 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. Truist Financial set a $139.00 target price on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded American Water Works from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.86.

American Water Works Stock Up 2.0%

AWK stock opened at $152.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $136.47 and a 200-day moving average of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39. American Water Works has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $153.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Water Works will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.05%.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Jericho Financial LLP purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,506,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,899,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $3,092,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 62.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,034,000 after buying an additional 12,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 570.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,109,000 after buying an additional 130,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

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.