HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,199 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in American States Water by 100.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. 74.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $89.99 per share, with a total value of $179,980.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AWR. StockNews.com began coverage on American States Water in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.67.

American States Water Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $87.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.98 and a beta of 0.41. American States Water has a 1-year low of $71.22 and a 1-year high of $100.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.56 and a 200 day moving average of $92.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $125.37 million for the quarter. American States Water had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 12.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.3975 per share. This represents a $1.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

American States Water Company Profile

(Get Rating)