American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Up 2.4% – Still a Buy?

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) shares rose 2.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $79.58 and last traded at $79.55. Approximately 53,226 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 215,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.73 and its 200 day moving average is $79.65.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in American States Water by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in American States Water by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in American States Water by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.