Blankinship & Foster LLC Invests $346,000 in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in American States Water by 2,173.9% in 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 367.3% in 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 last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 198.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

American States Water Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of AWR stock traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.47. 227,829 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 201,000. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $74.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. Sell-side analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. American States Water's payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.