NorthRock Partners LLC Invests $568,000 in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 2,173.9% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 198.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE AWR traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $79.23. The company had a trading volume of 127,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,365. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $69.46 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $78.17 and its 200 day moving average is $78.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.