American States Water Company $AWR Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 905,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,068 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.35% of American States Water worth $69,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in American States Water by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 401,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,784,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 9.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 284,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,394,000 after buying an additional 25,333 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 6.5% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 158,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,175,000 after buying an additional 9,705 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its position in American States Water by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,708,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American States Water during the 1st quarter valued at $9,576,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $40,075.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 39,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,971,105.50. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American States Water has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $77.50.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE AWR opened at $73.43 on Friday. American States Water Company has a 12 month low of $69.45 and a 12 month high of $86.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.05. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 20.26%.The firm had revenue of $182.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.79 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.504 per share. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 59.47%.

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.