Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Makes New $6.51 Million Investment in American States Water Company $AWR

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 78,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,512,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at about $602,749,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,347,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 758,452 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,337,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,495,000 after purchasing an additional 164,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 512.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 187,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,780,000 after purchasing an additional 157,276 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AWR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of American States Water to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

American States Water Stock Up 0.3%

AWR stock opened at $88.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.85. American States Water Company has a 52 week low of $69.45 and a 52 week high of $90.42. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.57.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.16. American States Water had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company had revenue of $181.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.72 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.5455 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 900 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $79,974.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,422,709.48. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American States Water Company Profile

American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR), founded in 1929 and headquartered in San Dimas, California, is a publicly traded utility holding company. The company operates primarily through two regulated segments—water and electric utilities—and provides non-regulated water system services. Over its history, American States Water has expanded its footprint through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, positioning itself as a reliable provider of essential services in its core territories.

Within its regulated water utility segment, American States Water serves more than 250,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 35 communities in six counties of California.