State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $2.52 Million Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in American States Water were worth $2,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its holdings in American States Water by 74.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 362,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,539,000 after purchasing an additional 155,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 21.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,589,000 after purchasing an additional 153,409 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1,651.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 119,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,406,000 after buying an additional 112,718 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of American States Water by 199.5% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 59,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after buying an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 3rd quarter worth $2,424,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.21 per share, with a total value of $99,694.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at $416,578.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE AWR opened at $72.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $92.85.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. American States Water had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.04%.

About American States Water

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.