American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Trading Up 2.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) traded up 2.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $79.58 and last traded at $79.55. 53,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 215,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.58 and a 200-day moving average of $79.70.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in American States Water by 2,173.9% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.