Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Freedom Capital

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) was downgraded by analysts at Freedom Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GWRS. Weiss Ratings cut Global Water Resources from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Roth Mkm set a $15.00 price objective on Global Water Resources in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Water Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Global Water Resources Stock Up 4.1%

GWRS stock opened at $8.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.29. Global Water Resources has a 12 month low of $7.67 and a 12 month high of $11.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.39 million, a PE ratio of 81.51 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.05). Global Water Resources had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 5.30%.The company had revenue of $13.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.73 million. Equities analysts expect that Global Water Resources will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Water Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWRS. TSP Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Global Water Resources by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 757,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,403,000 after buying an additional 435,129 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Global Water Resources by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 686,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,801,000 after buying an additional 236,500 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Global Water Resources by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,675,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,068,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Global Water Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $609,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Water Resources by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 177,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 48,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.91% of the company’s stock.

About Global Water Resources

Global Water Resources, Inc (NASDAQ:GWRS) is a publicly traded holding company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in the ownership and management of water and wastewater utilities. The company provides critical potable water delivery, wastewater collection and treatment, and reclaimed water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers across select communities in Central and Southern Arizona.

The company operates multiple regulated utility systems, serving communities such as Anthem, Biltmore, Florence and San Tan Valley.