American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 508,500 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the March 31st total of 435,100 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 231,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.21 per share, with a total value of $99,694.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWR. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 6.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 44,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in American States Water by 6.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in American States Water by 143.9% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,491 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in American States Water by 8.6% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 4,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in American States Water by 4.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

American States Water stock opened at $70.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.43. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $66.03 and a fifty-two week high of $92.85.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. American States Water’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.04%.

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.