Kennedy Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in American States Water Company $AWR

Key Points

• Kennedy Capital Management increased its stake in American States Water by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 189,387 shares valued at about $13.7 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted holdings, and 75.24% of AWR is now owned by hedge funds and other institutions. Meanwhile, insider selling included transactions by Director Anne M. Holloway and SVP Paul J. Rowley.
• American States Water reported quarterly EPS of $0.76, slightly below estimates, but revenue rose 14.3% year over year to $169.19 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.504 per share, equal to a 2.6% annualized yield.

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 41.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 55,133 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned about 0.49% of American States Water worth $13,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWR. Morgan Stanley boosted its position 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 buying an additional 758,452 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,495,000 after buying an additional 164,559 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 512.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 187,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,780,000 after buying an additional 157,276 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 632.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 153,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,157,000 after buying an additional 132,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in American States Water by 238.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 174,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,784,000 after purchasing an additional 122,823 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 662 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,979,212.44. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total transaction of $99,169.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $495,846. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

American States Water Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AWR stock opened at $77.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.89. American States Water Company has a twelve month low of $69.45 and a twelve month high of $81.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). American States Water had a net margin of 19.66% and a return on equity of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $169.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.504 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American States Water in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of American States Water from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold".

American States Water 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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