American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $91.93 and last traded at $89.7210, with a volume of 57,927 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.61.

Key American States Water News

Here are the key news stories impacting American States Water this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Broker raised its rating on AWR from “hold” to “buy” and increased its price target to $99 from $89, implying about 10% upside from the cited share price. Tickerreport article
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 5.4% year over year, and the earnings coverage highlighted rate increases, investment in the business and dividend growth as notable factors. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 EPS of $1.06 missed the $1.09 consensus estimate, while revenue of $192.54 million was below analyst expectations of $195.98 million. Higher costs offset revenue growth, weighing on the earnings report. Zacks article

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Freedom Broker upgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.00.

American States Water Trading Up 1.3%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $85.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.54.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $192.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.98 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.5455 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.73%.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In related news, Director Anne Holloway sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total value of $79,974.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 38,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,422,709.48. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth about $602,749,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of American States Water by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 836,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,225,000 after buying an additional 16,896 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,337,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth approximately $18,870,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 188,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,284,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

About American States Water

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) is a water and utility services company that provides regulated water and electric services, as well as contracted operations and maintenance services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and public-sector customers through its operating subsidiaries.

Through Golden State Water Company, American States Water supplies water to communities primarily in California. Its Bear Valley Electric Service subsidiary provides electric distribution service in the Big Bear area of San Bernardino County, California.