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

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 5.250-5.300 for the period, compared to the consensus 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on AWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,329,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,866. The company has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $142.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.10.

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

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% 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.