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

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st 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 period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 153.8% during the 1st 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 grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 202.2% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 31,203 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $19,943,000 after purchasing an additional 27,200 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AWK traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $140.84. The company had a trading volume of 585,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,436. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $27.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. American Water Works's payout ratio is 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.