American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $85.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.78 and a 200-day moving average of $79.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $66.03 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American States Water by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,900,000 after buying an additional 132,674 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of American States Water by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,389,000 after buying an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of American States Water by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,714,000 after buying an additional 24,042 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of American States Water by 205.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,974,000 after buying an additional 296,361 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American States Water by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,873,000 after buying an additional 13,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.