Short Interest in Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS) Expands By 53.6%

Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 324,121 shares, an increase of 53.6% from the February 26th total of 211,080 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 111,117 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GWRS. Freedom Capital cut shares of Global Water Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Global Water Resources from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $15.00.

Global Water Resources Price Performance

Global Water Resources stock opened at $7.37 on Monday. Global Water Resources has a 1-year low of $7.12 and a 1-year high of $11.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.71 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.05). Global Water Resources had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business had revenue of $13.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.73 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Global Water Resources will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Water Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.0253 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Global Water Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 300.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew M. Cohn purchased 18,305 shares of Global Water Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.20 per share, for a total transaction of $131,796.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,560,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,439,084.80. This trade represents a 0.72% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 54.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Water Resources

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GWRS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Global Water Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,700,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,510,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 757,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,403,000 after purchasing an additional 435,129 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 686,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,801,000 after purchasing an additional 236,500 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Water Resources by 0.5% during the third quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 330,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Water Resources by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 312,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 10,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.91% of the company’s stock.

About Global Water Resources

Global Water Resources, Inc (NASDAQ:GWRS) is a publicly traded holding company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in the ownership and management of water and wastewater utilities. The company provides critical potable water delivery, wastewater collection and treatment, and reclaimed water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers across select communities in Central and Southern Arizona.

The company operates multiple regulated utility systems, serving communities such as Anthem, Biltmore, Florence and San Tan Valley.