American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in American States Water were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in American States Water by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in American States Water by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in American States Water by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in American States Water by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in American States Water by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,393,000 after purchasing an additional 32,938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.81 per share, with a total value of $68,898.57. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. The trade was a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. American States Water Company has a one year low of $70.29 and a one year high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.62.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.05). American States Water had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $163.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.504 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. American States Water’s payout ratio is 56.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American States Water Company 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.