American States Water (AWR) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 17th

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th.

American States Water has raised its dividend by an average of 8.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 70 years. American States Water has a payout ratio of 52.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect American States Water to earn $3.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.1%.

American States Water Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $76.53 on Thursday. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $92.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. The business had revenue of $135.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.21 per share, for a total transaction of $99,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,578.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

About American States Water

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.