Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Drops By 13.4%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 622,100 shares, a decline of 13.4% from the January 31st total of 718,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 205,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AWR shares. Bank of America cut American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday.

American States Water Trading Up 1.9 %

American States Water stock traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $80.99. The stock had a trading volume of 328,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,313. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $74.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.14. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water's payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 20.3% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $79,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in American States Water by 7.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in American States Water by 40.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 47,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,955,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in American States Water by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. 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.