Wells Fargo & Company Lowers American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Price Target to $126.00

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $142.00 to $126.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.69% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AWK. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group set a $149.00 target price on American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.60.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK traded down $2.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.83. The stock had a trading volume of 360,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,231. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.68. American Water Works has a one year low of $120.63 and a one year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.