American States Water (NYSE:AWR) has been given a “Hold” rating by five brokerages, according to Bloomberg Ratings. Of the analysts that have covered the stock, two have recommended selling, while three suggest holding onto it. The average price objective for the next year among brokers who issued ratings in the past 12 months is $88.67.
In its most recent quarterly earnings report on March 1st, American States Water missed analyst expectations with earnings-per-share of $0.50 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.84. Despite this setback, the company boasted a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 18.12%, with revenue totaling $125.37 million for the quarter.
Although some may view this as cause for concern, several hedge funds and institutional investors have made recent changes to their positions in American States Water stock that suggest confidence in the utilities provider’s potential going forward.
ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake by 17.5% during Q1, JPMorgan Chase & Co lifted its stake by 17.6%, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake by an impressive 193.1%, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake worth approximately $219,000 and First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake by 5%.
With these investments from well-known industry players behind it, it appears American States Water has strong backing despite missing projected earnings last quarter.
As June moves forward and more data becomes available to investors regarding AWR’s financial performance heading into Q2, it will be interesting to see whether or not these movements in institutional investment signal a stronger future for American States Water or if it will continue facing challenges pulling ahead financially amidst increasing market pressure and competition within its sector.
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American States Water Stock Analysis and Investor Updates – June 2023
As of June 4, 2023, American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) opened at a price of $91.61 per share, with a market cap of $3.39 billion and a PE ratio of 34.44. The company’s stock has been the subject of recent coverage and analysis by various brokerages. StockNews.com issued a “hold” rating for American States Water on May 18th, while Wells Fargo & Company increased their rating for the company from “underweight” to “equal weight” on May 12th.
Institutional investors have also made significant changes to their positions in American States Water in recent months. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in the company by 17.5% in the first quarter, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake by 17.6%. Hedge funds and institutional investors currently own 74.09% of the company’s stock.
American States Water recently paid out a quarterly dividend on June 1st, with investors receiving $0.3975 per share as part of an annualized dividend yield of 1.74%. Director Anne M. Holloway sold shares worth $56,604 on May 26th, while fellow director Thomas A. Eichelberger acquired shares worth $179,980 on May 16th.
Despite fluctuations in its stock price over the past year, American States Water’s current ratio stands at 0.45 with a quick ratio of 0.40 and debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82 indicating that the firm is generally financially healthy.
With multiple reports covering American States Water and hedge funds continuously changing their holdings in the utility provider’s stock, it remains to be seen how these developments will affect AWR moving forward. Investors would benefit from closely monitoring such advancements as they occur in order to make informed trades regarding one’s stake in this blue-chip stock.
