American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $77.00 price objective on the utilities provider's stock, down from their previous price objective of $84.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.35% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AWR. StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of American States Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company.

American States Water Stock Performance

NYSE AWR traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.09. 269,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 182,173. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $87.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $82.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.32.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS 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 company had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American States Water by 18,820.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.