Short Interest in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Expands By 30.7%

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,280,000 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the November 15th total of 4,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AWK. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.29.

Institutional Trading of American Water Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 155.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 31.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock traded down $0.96 on Friday, reaching $129.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 747,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,335. American Water Works has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $136.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 60.59%.

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.