Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AWR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 45,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,303,000 after buying an additional 4,372 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 32,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1,558.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 9,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 8,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR opened at $86.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $87.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 19.26%. American States Water’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.