American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Acquires $40,009.84 in Stock

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Director Anne Holloway acquired 527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $75.92 per share, for a total transaction of $40,009.84. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,042,873.60. This represents a 1.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, hitting $75.48. 181,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 342,124. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.60. American States Water Company has a 12-month low of $69.45 and a 12-month high of $81.24.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $169.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.02 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.66% and a return on equity of 13.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.504 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of American States Water by 610.5% in the third quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of American States Water by 113.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AWR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

American States Water Company Profile

American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR), founded in 1929 and headquartered in San Dimas, California, is a publicly traded utility holding company. The company operates primarily through two regulated segments—water and electric utilities—and provides non-regulated water system services. Over its history, American States Water has expanded its footprint through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, positioning itself as a reliable provider of essential services in its core territories.

Within its regulated water utility segment, American States Water serves more than 250,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 35 communities in six counties of California.