Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 750 Shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in American States Water by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in American States Water in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $472,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in American States Water in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 56,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in American States Water by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,974,000 after acquiring an additional 44,834 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR opened at $74.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.89. American States Water Company has a 1-year low of $70.30 and a 1-year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The business had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This represents a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

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.