American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.250-5.300 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 5.250. The company issued revenue guidance of -. American Water Works also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 5.650-5.750 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.69. 1,329,492 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,193,866. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. American Water Works has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% 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.