American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $151.50 and last traded at $149.82, with a volume of 786596 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $145.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.33.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,125,598,000 after acquiring an additional 217,582 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,503,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,682,280,000 after purchasing an additional 214,082 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in American Water Works by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in American Water Works by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,003,000 after buying an additional 335,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

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.