Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Drops By 13.1%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 372,000 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the August 15th total of 428,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 208,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

American States Water Stock Down 0.6 %

AWR stock traded down $0.53 on Wednesday, reaching $83.66. 190,020 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 219,526. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.29. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $85.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $155.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. American States Water’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in American States Water by 633.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 44,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American States Water in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.