Bank of America Corp DE Cuts Holdings in American States Water Company $AWR

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its American States Water stake by 10.5% in the first quarter, selling 17,876 shares and retaining 152,675 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.24% of AWR.
• American States Water reported quarterly EPS of $1.09, beating estimates of $0.93, while revenue rose 11.2% year over year to $181.29 million. The stock opened at $88.90, near its 52-week high of $90.42.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5455 per share, or $2.18 annualized, yielding about 2.5%. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with one Buy and two Hold ratings.

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,876 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.39% of American States Water worth $11,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,347,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 758,452 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in American States Water by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,495,000 after acquiring an additional 164,559 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 512.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 187,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,780,000 after acquiring an additional 157,276 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 238.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 174,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,784,000 after acquiring an additional 122,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,975,947 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $360,657,000 after acquiring an additional 118,702 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE AWR opened at $88.90 on Friday. American States Water Company has a 1 year low of $69.45 and a 1 year high of $90.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business's 50-day moving average is $84.71 and its 200 day moving average is $78.81.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) 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 business had revenue of $181.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.72 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 20.52%.American States Water's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 900 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $79,974.00. Following the sale, the director owned 38,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,422,709.48. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% 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.

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