American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $84.00 price objective on the utilities provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target points to a potential upside of 5.42% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AWR. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Bank of America downgraded shares of American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AWR opened at $79.68 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.75. American States Water has a twelve month low of $69.46 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. American States Water's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 172.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,554,000 after buying an additional 49,851 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 107.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 197,556 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank purchased a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 107,353 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,278 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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