American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AWR opened at $85.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. American States Water’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in American States Water by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,900,000 after purchasing an additional 132,674 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,884,000 after purchasing an additional 13,024 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of American States Water by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,389,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 205.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,974,000 after buying an additional 296,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Company Profile

American States Water Company, through its subsidiaries, provides water and electric services to residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Water, Electric, and Contracted Services. The company purchases, produces, distributes, and sells water, as well as distributes electricity.