American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• American States Water shares moved above their 200-day moving average on Monday, trading as high as $77.94 and last changing hands around $77.82.
• Analyst sentiment is currently cautious: two analysts rate the stock Hold, and the consensus rating from MarketBeat is also Hold after Zacks downgraded it from Strong Buy.
• The company recently reported mixed quarterly results, with EPS of $0.76 missing estimates by $0.01 but revenue of $169.19 million beating expectations, while it continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.504 per share, yielding about 2.6%.

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $75.04 and traded as high as $77.94. American States Water shares last traded at $77.8180, with a volume of 531,208 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AWR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American States Water in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of American States Water from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

American States Water Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.15 and a 200-day moving average of $75.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $169.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.02 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.06% and a net margin of 19.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.504 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.89%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 662 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the sale, the director owned 39,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,979,212.44. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total transaction of $99,169.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $495,846. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 768.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 4,160 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 284,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,394,000 after buying an additional 25,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 2,606.4% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,717 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,059,000 after buying an additional 86,402 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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