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 report published on Wednesday.

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

American States Water Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $161.78 million for 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 18.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,203,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the 1st quarter worth approximately $533,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 10,538 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position 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 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.