American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to Issue $0.43 Quarterly Dividend

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%.

American States Water has increased its dividend by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 70 consecutive years. American States Water has a payout ratio of 52.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect American States Water to earn $3.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.1%.

American States Water Stock Down 0.2 %

AWR stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,876. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $92.85. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.80 and its 200-day moving average is $75.89.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.21 per share, with a total value of $99,694.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,578.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

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.