Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.27% of American States Water worth $61,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in American States Water by 633.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AWR shares. StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research 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 on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $82.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $85.71. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.86.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted 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 company had revenue of $155.30 million for 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 company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.