Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) Stock Price Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS) shares crossed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.34 and traded as low as $7.22. Global Water Resources shares last traded at $7.24, with a volume of 105,587 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Global Water Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Global Water Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Global Water Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $7.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.22 million, a P/E ratio of 103.43 and a beta of 0.92.

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $13.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.09 million. Global Water Resources had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 3.53%. On average, analysts predict that Global Water Resources, Inc. will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Global Water Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.0253 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Global Water Resources’s payout ratio is presently 428.57%.

Insider Activity at Global Water Resources

In other news, COO Christopher D. Krygier acquired 5,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.87 per share, for a total transaction of $37,022.43. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,031.95. The trade was a 105.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew M. Cohn acquired 18,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.20 per share, with a total value of $131,796.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,560,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,439,084.80. This represents a 0.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 30,694 shares of company stock worth $217,048 over the last three months. 53.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Water Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWRS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Global Water Resources by 20.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 103,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 17,257 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Global Water Resources in the first quarter worth about $109,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Global Water Resources by 12.0% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 17,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Global Water Resources by 10.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 299,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 27,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Global Water Resources by 30.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 9,539 shares in the last quarter. 27.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.