Wedbush Securities Inc. Takes Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 633.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in American States Water by 44,000.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American States Water Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AWR opened at $83.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.11. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $85.71.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 60.78%.

American States Water Profile

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.