Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in American States Water Company $AWR

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in American States Water Company by 1.3%, selling 60,872 shares and now owns 4,770,654 shares, valued at approximately $375 million.
• American States Water recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.504 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 2.7% and will be paid on September 3rd.
• Wells Fargo upgraded its rating for American States Water from "underweight" to "equal weight" and raised the target stock price from $76.00 to $84.00.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,770,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 60,872 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.39% of American States Water worth $375,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,670 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at $472,000. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at $402,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 11.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 41.8% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,974,000 after buying an additional 44,834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $77.50.

American States Water Stock Down 0.8%

AWR traded down $0.5970 on Thursday, hitting $74.6630. 140,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 224,844. American States Water Company has a twelve month low of $70.29 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.99.

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

American States Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.504 per share. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from American States Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. American States Water's payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.81 per share, with a total value of $68,898.57. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.83% of the stock is 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.