It's been a good week for American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest quarterly results, and the shares gained 7.1% to US$77.95. American States Water beat revenue forecasts by a solid 14% to hit US$135m. Statutory earnings per share came in at US$0.62, in line with expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

See our latest analysis for American States Water

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for American States Water from three analysts is for revenues of US$599.4m in 2024. If met, it would imply a reasonable 5.2% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$3.02, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$552.0m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.02 in 2024. There doesn't appear to have been a major change in sentiment following the results, other than the small increase to revenue estimates.

Even though revenue forecasts increased, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$79.67, suggesting the analysts are focused on earnings as the driver of value creation. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. Currently, the most bullish analyst values American States Water at US$86.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$73.00. With such a narrow range of valuations, the analysts apparently share similar views on what they think the business is worth.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. The analysts are definitely expecting American States Water's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 7.1% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 4.8% per annum over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 6.5% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that American States Water is expected to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. There was also an upgrade to revenue estimates, although as we saw earlier, forecast growth is only expected to be about the same as the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have estimates - from multiple American States Water analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Before you take the next step you should know about the 2 warning signs for American States Water (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that we have uncovered.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.