American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $81.65 and last traded at $81.2650, with a volume of 14777 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $80.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

American States Water Stock Up 1.3%

The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.33 and its 200 day moving average is $75.19.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $169.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.02 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.66% and a return on equity of 13.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water Company will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.504 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 662 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 39,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,212.44. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total value of $99,169.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,846. The trade was a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWR. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 23.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of American States Water by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of American States Water by 768.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 4,160 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 9.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 284,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,394,000 after purchasing an additional 25,333 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2,606.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,059,000 after purchasing an additional 86,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

About American States Water

American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR), founded in 1929 and headquartered in San Dimas, California, is a publicly traded utility holding company. The company operates primarily through two regulated segments—water and electric utilities—and provides non-regulated water system services. Over its history, American States Water has expanded its footprint through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, positioning itself as a reliable provider of essential services in its core territories.

Within its regulated water utility segment, American States Water serves more than 250,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 35 communities in six counties of California.