American States Water Company $AWR Shares Newly Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $975,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $602,749,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 836,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,225,000 after purchasing an additional 16,896 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth approximately $28,337,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth approximately $18,870,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 188,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In related news, Director Anne Holloway sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $79,974.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,422,709.48. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American States Water Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE AWR opened at $89.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.54. American States Water Company has a 52-week low of $69.50 and a 52-week high of $91.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.40.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $192.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.98 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 20.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.5455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. American States Water’s payout ratio is 59.73%.

Key American States Water News

Here are the key news stories impacting American States Water this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Broker raised its rating on AWR from “hold” to “buy” and increased its price target to $99 from $89, implying about 10% upside from the cited share price. Tickerreport article
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 5.4% year over year, and the earnings coverage highlighted rate increases, investment in the business and dividend growth as notable factors. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 EPS of $1.06 missed the $1.09 consensus estimate, while revenue of $192.54 million was below analyst expectations of $195.98 million. Higher costs offset revenue growth, weighing on the earnings report. Zacks article

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.00.

American States Water Company Profile

American States Water Company is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide water, electric and wastewater services. Its regulated utility subsidiary, Golden State Water Company, delivers water to customers in communities across California and provides electric service in the Big Bear area through Bear Valley Electric Service.

Through American States Utility Services, the company also operates and maintains water and wastewater systems at U.S. military installations under long-term contracts.