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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, 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 at this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in American Water Works by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in American Water Works by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $140.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.73. American Water Works has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

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.