American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Short Interest Up 16.6% in June

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, an increase of 16.6% from the May 31st total of 3,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.33.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $129.16 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.52. American Water Works has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $151.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWK. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,441,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 94,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,005 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $974,000. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 8,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.