Bank of America Begins Coverage on American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Investment analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE AWR opened at $83.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.13 and a 200-day moving average of $80.32. 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 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 8,274.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,767,000 after purchasing an additional 305,669 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised 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 valued at $31,974,000 after buying an additional 296,361 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 107.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,815,000 after acquiring an additional 197,556 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in American States Water by 114.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,599,000 after acquiring an additional 144,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in American States Water by 182.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 220,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,018,000 after purchasing an additional 142,664 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.