Perpetual Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,287 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.26% of American States Water worth $8,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in American States Water in the first quarter worth about $632,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in American States Water by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,203,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in American States Water in the 1st quarter valued at $533,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in American States Water by 859.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,707 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 21,236 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 104.3% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 19,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 9,889 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American States Water Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AWR stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.12. The stock had a trading volume of 112,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,486. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $85.71. The firm's 50-day moving average is $82.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.59.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from American States Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

American States Water 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.