Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Rises By 51.6%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 649,900 shares, a growth of 51.6% from the October 31st total of 428,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 212,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American States Water during the second quarter worth $42,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AWR stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 131,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,854. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.96. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

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.