Short Interest in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Grows By 51.6%

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 649,900 shares, an increase of 51.6% from the October 31st total of 428,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 212,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at $50,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWR traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $85.31. 131,999 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,854. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.15 and a 200-day moving average of $79.96. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

American States Water Company Profile

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.