American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $90.13 and last traded at $89.00, with a volume of 167 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $89.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AWR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded American States Water from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of American States Water to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

American States Water Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.95 and its 200-day moving average is $76.65.

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

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.504 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 58.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total transaction of $99,169.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,846. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 39,418 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,212.44. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Martin Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in American States Water during the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 23.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 13.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 29.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 46,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,513,000 after buying an additional 10,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 114.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 46,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 24,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Company Profile

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.