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

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $87.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $80.00.

American States Water Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:AWR opened at $85.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.06. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $89.73. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.46.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The firm had revenue of $135.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. American States Water’s payout ratio is 56.21%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger acquired 640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.62 per share, for a total transaction of $49,676.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,805.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger acquired 640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.62 per share, for a total transaction of $49,676.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,805.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Ann Hopkins acquired 560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.53 per share, with a total value of $40,056.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606 shares in the company, valued at $257,937.18. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in American States Water by 633.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 44,000.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

About American States Water

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.