American States Water (NYSE:AWR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.4655 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%.

American States Water has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 71 years. American States Water has a payout ratio of 55.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect American States Water to earn $3.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.5%.

American States Water Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $82.35. 126,174 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,576. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.97. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

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.