American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

American States Water (NYSE:AWR)’s stock price was up 2.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $79.58 and last traded at $79.55. Approximately 53,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 215,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. Equities research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in American States Water by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,873,000 after buying an additional 13,276 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 59.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 54,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after buying an additional 20,503 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American States Water by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 338 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.