American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a drop of 9.9% from the September 30th total of 4,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 948,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’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 owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 153.8% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 8,266 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in American Water Works by 202.2% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,699,000 after acquiring an additional 31,203 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,023,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 20.0% in the first quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 163,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,943,000 after purchasing an additional 27,200 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $135.99. 141,979 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,209. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.95 and its 200 day moving average is $136.10. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G 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 (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results 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 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

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.