StockNews.com Upgrades American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to “Hold”

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE AWR opened at $86.45 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.77. 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 issued 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). The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $343,900,000 after acquiring an additional 132,674 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 worth $61,389,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in American States Water by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,042 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in American States Water by 205.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,974,000 after purchasing an additional 296,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in American States Water by 107.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 197,556 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.