American States Water Company AWR generated fourth-quarter 2018 operating earnings of 37 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Further, the bottom line improved 5.7% from 35 cents in the year-ago quarter.
In 2018, earnings came in at $1.72 per share compared with $1.75 in 2017.
Total Revenues
Operating revenues amounted to $111 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $107 million by 3.7%. The top line improved 6.5% from $104.2 in the prior-year quarter. Total revenues increased primarily on the back of higher revenues in the Contracted services segment, which was up by nearly 23.2%.
In 2018, the company delivered revenues of $436.8 million compared with $440.6 million in 2017.
American States Water Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
American States Water Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | American States Water Company Quote
Operational Update
In the quarter under review, American States Water’s total operating expenses were $88.2 million, up 7.3% year over year.
Interest expenses were $5.5 million, up 10.8% year over year. Also, interest income was $1.7 million, up 199.2% year over year.
Segment Details
Earnings in the Water segment were 17 cents, down from 18 cents in the prior-year quarter.
Earnings in the Electric segment amounted to 3 cents, up from 2 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Earnings in the Contracted Services segments were 18 cents, which rallied 63.6% from the year-ago quarter’s tally.
Financial Update
As of Dec 31, 2018, American States Water’s cash and cash equivalents were $7.1 million compared with $0.21 million as of Dec 31, 2017.
As of Dec 31, 2018, the company’s long-term debts were down at $281 million compared with $321 million as of Dec 31, 2017.
Recent Utility Releases
American Water Works Company AWK posted fourth-quarter 2018 earnings per share of 69 cents, which is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Aqua America Inc. WTR reported fourth-quarter 2018 earnings per share of 31 cents, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.
IDACORP, Inc. IDA delivered fourth-quarter 2018 operating earnings of 52 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents by 8.3%.
Zacks Rank
American States Water carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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