ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,636 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.29% of American States Water worth $8,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at $568,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in American States Water by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 329,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,627,000 after buying an additional 45,708 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in American States Water by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 23,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American States Water Stock Performance

NYSE:AWR opened at $79.56 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $69.46 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The company had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.23%.

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.