American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Key Points

• American States Water declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5455 per share, payable December 2 to shareholders of record on November 16. The annualized dividend is $2.18 per share, yielding approximately 2.6%.
• The company has increased its dividend for 71 consecutive years, with a 62.6% payout ratio. Expected earnings suggest the dividend remains adequately covered.
• American States Water reported quarterly EPS of $1.09, exceeding estimates of $0.93, while revenue rose 11.2% year over year to $181.29 million. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating.

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.5455 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th.

American States Water has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 71 consecutive years. American States Water has a payout ratio of 62.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect American States Water to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.4%.

American States Water Stock Performance

NYSE AWR opened at $84.46 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average is $85.35 and its 200-day moving average is $79.94. American States Water has a 12-month low of $69.45 and a 12-month high of $91.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.56.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $181.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.72 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. American States Water's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

American States Water Company Profile

American States Water Company NYSE: AWR is a water and utility services company that provides regulated water and electric services, as well as contracted operations and maintenance services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and public-sector customers through its operating subsidiaries.

Through Golden State Water Company, American States Water supplies water to communities primarily in California. Its Bear Valley Electric Service subsidiary provides electric distribution service in the Big Bear area of San Bernardino County, California.

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