American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

by · The Markets Daily

American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AWR

American States Water Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $86.45 on Friday. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. American States Water’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AWR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in American States Water by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $343,900,000 after buying an additional 132,674 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,389,000 after acquiring an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,714,000 after acquiring an additional 24,042 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 205.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,974,000 after acquiring an additional 296,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 107.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 197,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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