Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Rises By 5.2%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 391,200 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 372,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 221,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AWR. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at $130,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth $80,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth $2,049,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

AWR stock traded up $0.59 on Tuesday, reaching $83.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 169,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,582. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $85.71.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.78%.

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.