American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Short Interest Down 7.2% in September

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the September 15th total of 4,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 965,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded down $1.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $140.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 210,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,529. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.69. American Water Works has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Mizuho lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in American Water Works by 153.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 31,203 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 163,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,943,000 after purchasing an additional 27,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.