American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Short Interest Up 20.7% in February

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,820,000 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the January 31st total of 4,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $145.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.43. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 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.