Assetmark Inc. Invests $50,000 in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWR. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 31.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 18,820.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in American States Water in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 702.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $84.93 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.43. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 62.63%.

About American States Water

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.