American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. reduced its position in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $62,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American States Water Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $75.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.62. American States Water Company has a twelve month low of $70.29 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 13.45%. American States Water’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.504 dividend. This is a positive change from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 57.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.81 per share, with a total value of $68,898.57. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

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.