American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Short Interest Down 8.7% in January

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in American States Water by 367.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 18,820.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in American States Water by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

American States Water Stock Down 2.2 %

AWR stock traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $72.85. The stock had a trading volume of 115,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,713. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.18 and a 200 day moving average of $81.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. American States Water’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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.