Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires Shares of 6,609 American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired 6,609 shares of American States Water Company, valued at approximately $520,000, during the first quarter.
• American States Water announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4655 per share, with a current annualized yield of 2.55% and a payout ratio of 57.23%.
• The stock has seen a 1.1% decrease and has a market cap of $2.81 billion, with current EPS estimates for the fiscal year anticipated at 3.34.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,609 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of American States Water by 29.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of American States Water by 6.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 37,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,953,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 1.6% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 186,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,709,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares during the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of American States Water by 29.3% during the first quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 6,516 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American States Water by 22.9% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,350.27. The trade was a 11.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of American States Water stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.08. 89,079 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 223,422. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.85. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61. American States Water Company has a 52 week low of $70.29 and a 52 week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 20.22%. The company had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is 57.23%.

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.