2,850 Shares in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Bought by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 633.3% during 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 period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock opened at $83.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $85.71.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $155.30 million during 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%. American States Water’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

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.