Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 44,000.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock opened at $81.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.98. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $85.71.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $155.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 18.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.78%.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other American States Water 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

About American States Water

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.