American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 92.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 87,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,064 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $6,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 31.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 9.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 633.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

American States Water Stock Up 1.0 %

American States Water stock opened at $83.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $85.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.02). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. American States Water’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 60.78%.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American States Water 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.