American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Lowered to Underweight Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $77.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $84.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AWR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America started coverage on American States Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company.

American States Water Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $73.09 on Tuesday. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.63%.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AWR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in American States Water by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in American States Water by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 9.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 3.4% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 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.