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

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

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 0.1 %

NYSE AWR opened at $85.48 on Wednesday. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.13 and a 200 day moving average of $79.89.

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 analysts’ expectations of $161.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in American States Water during the second 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 lifted its position 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 valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in American States Water in the 2nd quarter worth $80,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.