American States Water Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

American States Water (NYS: AWR) reported earnings on Feb. 28. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), American States Water beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly. GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.


Gross margins dropped, operating margins grew, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
 American States Water booked revenue of $111.5 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see net sales of $102.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 17% higher than the prior-year quarter's $95.2 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.53. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.36 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.53 for Q4 were 51% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.35 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 49.6%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 18.9%, 260 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.2%, 220 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $106.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.56.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $473.6 million. The average EPS estimate is $2.68.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 140 members out of 146 rating the stock outperform, and six members rating it underperform. Among 35 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 34 give American States Water a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on American States Water is hold, with an average price target of $44.00.

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The article American States Water Beats on the Top Line originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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