American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Cut to “Underweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $77.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $84.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $72.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.20. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. American States Water’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in American States Water during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in American States Water by 18,820.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in American States Water by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.