Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 27,282 American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. has acquired a stake in American States Water Company, investing approximately $2.15 million for 27,282 shares, representing about 0.07% of the company.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.70 EPS, achieving consensus estimates, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 9.4%.
• Wells Fargo upgraded American States Water from "underweight" to "equal weight," raising the target price from $76.00 to $84.00.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 27,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,147,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of American States Water at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32,938 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 76,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in American States Water during the fourth quarter worth about $45,254,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger acquired 897 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 8,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $650,350.27. This represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, May 8th.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE:AWR traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.56. The company had a trading volume of 283,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,852. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $76.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.85. American States Water Company has a 52-week low of $70.29 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 20.22%. American States Water's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.