Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $1.36 Million Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 367.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE:AWR opened at $79.51 on Friday. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. On average, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.