American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 622,100 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the January 31st total of 718,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 205,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America downgraded American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at about $78,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter worth approximately $415,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 153,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,936,000 after acquiring an additional 35,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Up 0.1 %

American States Water stock opened at $77.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

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.