American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Short Interest Down 8.7% in January

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a decline of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 773,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 204,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in American States Water during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in American States Water by 18,820.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in American States Water by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $72.85. 115,245 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 187,713. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.24. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company 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 firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday.

About American States Water

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.