American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.12% of American States Water worth $3,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 362,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,539,000 after purchasing an additional 155,180 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in American States Water by 21.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,589,000 after buying an additional 153,409 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 1,651.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 119,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,406,000 after acquiring an additional 112,718 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 199.5% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 59,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth $2,424,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.21 per share, with a total value of $99,694.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

American States Water Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AWR traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $74.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 165,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,115. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $92.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.80 and a 200 day moving average of $75.89.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 51.04%.

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.