American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $84.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.43. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other American States Water 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 sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. 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.