Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to Underweight

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

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

American States Water Stock Down 2.0 %

AWR stock opened at $73.09 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 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 analysts’ expectations of $161.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. American States Water’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid 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 is presently 62.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in American States Water in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the second quarter worth $80,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.