Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Global Water Resources from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, Global Water Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Global Water Resources Price Performance

Shares of GWRS opened at $7.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.89 million, a P/E ratio of 91.01 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.22 and a 200 day moving average of $7.86. Global Water Resources has a twelve month low of $6.55 and a twelve month high of $10.17.

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $16.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.00 million. Global Water Resources had a return on equity of 2.06% and a net margin of 3.98%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Water Resources will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Cohn purchased 139,343 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.85 per share, with a total value of $1,233,185.55. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,701,350 shares in the company, valued at $23,906,947.50. The trade was a 5.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 53.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TSP Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Global Water Resources by 9.8% in the third quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,471,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,700,000 after purchasing an additional 131,396 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its position in Global Water Resources by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 831,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,308,000 after purchasing an additional 144,600 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Global Water Resources by 2,898.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 186,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 180,029 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Water Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $242,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Global Water Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $253,000. 27.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Water Resources Company Profile

Global Water Resources, Inc (NASDAQ: GWRS) is a water resource management company that owns and operates regulated water, wastewater and recycled water utilities in Arizona. The company provides essential services to residential, commercial and industrial customers, including the delivery of potable water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the production and distribution of recycled water.

Global Water Resources serves communities primarily in the Phoenix metropolitan area and other growing areas of central and southern Arizona.