Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 6,092 American States Water Company $AWR

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in American States Water Company, purchasing 6,092 shares valued at approximately $479,000.
• American States Water recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.504 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 61.77%.
• Wells Fargo upgraded American States Water's rating from "underweight" to "equal weight" and raised their price target from $76.00 to $84.00.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,092 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AWR. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in American States Water by 62,545.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 149,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,731,000 after acquiring an additional 148,858 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in American States Water by 14.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in American States Water by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 137,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,719,000 after acquiring an additional 71,501 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at $5,234,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in American States Water by 3,834.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 67,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,324,000 after acquiring an additional 65,945 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $77.50.

American States Water Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE AWR traded down $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $74.74. The stock had a trading volume of 177,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.62. American States Water Company has a one year low of $70.29 and a one year high of $87.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.08.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $163.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.64 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 20.26%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.504 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from American States Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. American States Water's payout ratio is 61.77%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger acquired 897 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.81 per share, with a total value of $68,898.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.