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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

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

American States Water Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $85.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50.

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

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,203,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in American States Water during the 1st quarter worth $533,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 63.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 10,538 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $61,389,000 after acquiring an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 21.8% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 122,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,866,000 after acquiring an additional 21,868 shares during the period. 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.