American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share.

American States Water Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AWR traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $84.65. 417,366 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 217,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.20 and its 200-day moving average is $78.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% 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.