American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $71.00 price objective on the utilities provider's stock, down from their previous price objective of $85.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $73.51. 156,645 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 186,456. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.04.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of American States Water by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,924 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in American States Water by 8.3% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in American States Water by 23.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,676 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. 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.