Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys 3,530 Shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 81.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 3,530 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in American States Water were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in American States Water by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,974,000 after buying an additional 44,834 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American States Water by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American States Water by 62,545.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 149,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,731,000 after acquiring an additional 148,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 11.4% during the first quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 56,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,461,000 after buying an additional 5,801 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWR traded down $0.99 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.00. 14,866 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 213,637. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.61. American States Water Company has a 52-week low of $70.30 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.49 and a 200-day moving average of $77.09.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 13.45%. American States Water's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 897 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,350.27. The trade was a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AWR. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

About American States Water

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.