American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $84.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $76.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 4.87% from the stock’s previous close.

AWR has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th.

American States Water Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AWR opened at $80.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. American States Water has a 12 month low of $69.46 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2,173.9% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 367.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. 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.