Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Drops By 8.7%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the December 15th total of 773,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 204,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

American States Water Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AWR opened at $74.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWR. Bank of America began coverage on American States Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American States Water by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,884,000 after acquiring an additional 13,024 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,389,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 205.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,974,000 after purchasing an additional 296,361 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in American States Water by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,873,000 after buying an additional 13,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 107.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,815,000 after buying an additional 197,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.