Point72 DIFC Ltd Purchases New Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $130,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at $632,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,203,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 95,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,671,000 after purchasing an additional 21,270 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $533,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 859.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 21,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR opened at $83.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.19 and its 200-day moving average is $76.07. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $66.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.71.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The company had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. American States Water’s payout ratio is 60.78%.

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.