American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Shares Down 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)’s share price fell 1.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $137.87 and last traded at $138.40. 1,240,699 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 1,235,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Water Works from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.86.

American Water Works Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. First National Corp MA ADV lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 82.0% in the 1st quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 16,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after acquiring an additional 7,426 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.