Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases New Stake in American States Water Company $AWR

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 23,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in American States Water by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,550,000 after purchasing an additional 20,510 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,379,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in shares of American States Water by 206.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 78,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,756,000 after buying an additional 52,885 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American States Water by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,975,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,657,000 after buying an additional 118,702 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 632.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 153,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,157,000 after buying an additional 132,929 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American States Water Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:AWR opened at $85.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. American States Water Company has a 1-year low of $69.45 and a 1-year high of $90.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.42.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $157.02 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.06% and a net margin of 19.66%.American States Water’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.5455 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. American States Water’s payout ratio is 63.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,212.44. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total transaction of $99,169.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,846. The trade was a 16.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of American States Water to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

American States Water 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.