American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Technical breakout: Shares of American States Water crossed above their 200‑day moving average ($74.17), trading as high as $81.24 and last at $80.89 on elevated volume, a potentially bullish signal for momentum traders.
• Analyst stance: The consensus rating is a Hold (Weiss Ratings also reiterated a "hold (c)"), with an average price target of $84.00, suggesting limited upside from current levels.
• Fundamentals and income profile: the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.74 (beating estimates) but slightly missed revenue expectations, has a $3.17B market cap, and pays an annualized dividend of $2.02 for a ~2.5% yield with a ~60% payout ratio and ~75% institutional ownership.

Shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $74.17 and traded as high as $81.24. American States Water shares last traded at $80.8850, with a volume of 318,318 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, American States Water has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.00.

American States Water Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $75.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.17.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.06. American States Water had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $164.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.82 million. On average, research analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.504 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. American States Water's payout ratio is currently 59.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American States Water by 128.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,347,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 758,452 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American States Water by 55.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,847,000 after purchasing an additional 258,388 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in American States Water by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,495,000 after purchasing an additional 164,559 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in American States Water by 512.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 187,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,780,000 after purchasing an additional 157,276 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in American States Water by 632.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 153,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,157,000 after acquiring an additional 132,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

About American States Water

American States Water Company NYSE: AWR, founded in 1929 and headquartered in San Dimas, California, is a publicly traded utility holding company. The company operates primarily through two regulated segments—water and electric utilities—and provides non-regulated water system services. Over its history, American States Water has expanded its footprint through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, positioning itself as a reliable provider of essential services in its core territories.

Within its regulated water utility segment, American States Water serves more than 250,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 35 communities in six counties of California.

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