American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $73.48 and traded as high as $74.15. American States Water shares last traded at $73.5050, with a volume of 309,599 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, American States Water has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

American States Water Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.69.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.06. American States Water had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $164.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.82 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.504 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 59.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American States Water by 128.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,347,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 758,452 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American States Water during the second quarter worth about $37,846,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,847,000 after purchasing an additional 258,388 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,495,000 after purchasing an additional 164,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 512.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 187,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,780,000 after purchasing an additional 157,276 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American States Water

American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR), founded in 1929 and headquartered in San Dimas, California, is a publicly traded utility holding company. The company operates primarily through two regulated segments—water and electric utilities—and provides non-regulated water system services. Over its history, American States Water has expanded its footprint through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, positioning itself as a reliable provider of essential services in its core territories.

Within its regulated water utility segment, American States Water serves more than 250,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 35 communities in six counties of California.