Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Drops By 8.7%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 773,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 204,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

American States Water Stock Down 2.2 %

AWR traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $72.85. 187,887 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,923. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.19.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AWR. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in American States Water by 367.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in American States Water by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.