Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 148,858 Shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 62,545.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 148,858 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of American States Water worth $11,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in American States Water by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,831,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,506,000 after acquiring an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in American States Water by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,118,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,935,000 after acquiring an additional 264,257 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 855,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in American States Water by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,393,000 after acquiring an additional 32,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in American States Water by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 603,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,924,000 after acquiring an additional 76,300 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th.

American States Water Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE AWR opened at $76.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.62. American States Water Company has a one year low of $70.30 and a one year high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.70 and its 200-day moving average is $77.26.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 20.22%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. American States Water's payout ratio is 57.23%.

American States Water Company Profile

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.

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