American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 508,500 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the March 31st total of 435,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 231,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 1,400 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.21 per share, with a total value of $99,694.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,984,000. Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 362,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,539,000 after acquiring an additional 155,180 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,589,000 after acquiring an additional 153,409 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 1,651.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 119,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,406,000 after purchasing an additional 112,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management raised its holdings in American States Water by 199.5% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 59,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $70.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.24. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $66.03 and a fifty-two week high of $92.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.11.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. American States Water had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.04%.

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.