5,955 Shares in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Bought by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,955 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the third quarter worth about $50,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.36. 235,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 219,200. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.54. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.63%.

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.