American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Shares Purchased by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE raised its position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 867 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in American States Water were worth $603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in American States Water by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new position in American States Water during the first quarter worth about $472,000. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at about $402,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in American States Water by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 56,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,461,000 after buying an additional 5,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its position in American States Water by 41.8% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,974,000 after buying an additional 44,834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

American States Water stock opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap 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 Company has a 12 month low of $70.29 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.34 and its 200-day moving average is $76.97.

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

American States Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.504 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price 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.