American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $85.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.23. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American States Water by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,900,000 after purchasing an additional 132,674 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in American States Water by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,389,000 after buying an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,042 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 205.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,974,000 after purchasing an additional 296,361 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,276 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.