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

Perpetual Ltd increased its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,278 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in American States Water were worth $8,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in American States Water by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in American States Water by 9.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in American States Water by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in American States Water by 31.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $74.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.99 and its 200 day moving average is $81.40.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

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.