Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 86.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 8,274.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,767,000 after purchasing an additional 305,669 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 205.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,974,000 after purchasing an additional 296,361 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 107.1% during the third 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in American States Water by 114.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,599,000 after purchasing an additional 144,510 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 182.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 220,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,018,000 after purchasing an additional 142,664 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $85.37 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.82. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. American States Water’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 62.63%.

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.