Bank of America Downgrades American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to Underperform

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $71.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $85.00. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $72.78 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.15. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 8,274.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,767,000 after purchasing an additional 305,669 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 107.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,815,000 after buying an additional 197,556 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of American States Water by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,599,000 after buying an additional 144,510 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 332.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,753,000 after acquiring an additional 77,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently 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.