American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $85.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Trading Down 0.1 %

AWR opened at $83.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.51. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.38.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 62.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American States Water by 9.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in American States Water by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in American States Water by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.