American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Shares Bought by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the first quarter worth $472,000. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the first quarter worth $402,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 11.4% during the first quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 56,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,461,000 after buying an additional 5,801 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 41.8% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,974,000 after buying an additional 44,834 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AWR opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.34 and a 200 day moving average of $76.97. American States Water Company has a 1 year low of $70.29 and a 1 year high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $163.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.64 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 13.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.504 per share. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 56.88%.

American States Water Company 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.