Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Drops By 6.5%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 428,800 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 458,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 201,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday.

American States Water Trading Down 0.1 %

AWR opened at $84.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.43. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value 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 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.