American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Thomas A. Eichelberger Purchases 897 Shares

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 8,467 shares in the company, valued at $650,350.27. This represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $76.60 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.55 and its 200 day moving average is $77.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.62. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $69.46 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of American States Water by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of American States Water by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in American States Water by 6.1% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in American States Water by 2.1% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AWR. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

About American States Water

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.