American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Short Interest Update

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 773,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 204,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in American States Water by 18,820.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in American States Water by 31.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on American States Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Stock Performance

NYSE AWR traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.59. The stock had a trading volume of 261,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,552. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.18 and a 200 day moving average of $81.22.

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

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.