NFJ Investment Group LLC Purchases Shares of 17,740 American States Water Company $AWR

NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 17,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,466,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in American States Water in the second quarter worth about $26,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in American States Water during the second quarter worth about $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in American States Water by 113.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $88.90 on Friday. American States Water Company has a 12-month low of $69.45 and a 12-month high of $90.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $181.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.72 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.5455 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total value of $79,974.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,422,709.48. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AWR shares. Weiss Ratings raised American States Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded American States Water to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American States Water has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.