Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Stock

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $129.00 to $133.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.57.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $127.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $124.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 9.75%. Equities analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,592,000 after purchasing an additional 747,316 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 4,227.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 695,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $71,120,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.