StockNews.com Lowers American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $82.63 on Wednesday. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $66.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth $1,161,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at about $130,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of American States Water by 23.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter worth approximately $2,049,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.