Assetmark Inc. Purchases 343 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during 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 during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of American States Water by 2,173.9% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of American States Water by 198.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in American States Water by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

American States Water stock opened at $79.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.09. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47.

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

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AWR shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th.

American States Water Company 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.