American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Position Raised by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 107.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 197,556 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,884,000 after buying an additional 13,024 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in American States Water by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 42,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,550,000 after buying an additional 14,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in American States Water by 172.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America began coverage on American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Stock Down 0.2 %

AWR opened at $72.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.77 and its 200-day moving average is $81.20. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. American States Water’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 62.63%.

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.