First Pacific Financial Has $732,000 Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in American States Water were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in American States Water during the first quarter worth approximately $632,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in American States Water by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,203,000 after buying an additional 19,391 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the first quarter worth $533,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 859.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 21,236 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 104.3% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 19,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 9,889 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water 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 owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Price Performance

American States Water stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $85.97. 188,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 219,970. 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 twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $86.91. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.85.

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

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. American States Water’s payout ratio is 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.