Zacks Research Equities Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for American Water Works in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 16th. Zacks Research analyst J. Saha now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $1.75 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.74. The consensus estimate for American Water Works’ current full-year earnings is $5.24 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for American Water Works’ FY2024 earnings at $5.22 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.56 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.13 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.67 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.28 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.90 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AWK opened at $115.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.18. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $152.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.63.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.30% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,476,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 64,405.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,838,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,544 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% in 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 valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,838,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 11.5% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,114,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $730,062,000 after acquiring an additional 528,070 shares during 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, 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.