Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,190 American States Water Company $AWR

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth $602,749,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American States Water by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,975,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,657,000 after purchasing an additional 118,702 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in American States Water by 128.8% in the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American States Water by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 907,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,810,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in American States Water by 2.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 836,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,225,000 after purchasing an additional 16,896 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 900 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total value of $79,974.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 38,518 shares in the company, valued at $3,422,709.48. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American States Water Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AWR stock opened at $89.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $85.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.45. American States Water Company has a 1-year low of $69.45 and a 1-year high of $91.72. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $181.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.72 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 20.52%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.5455 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. 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 payout ratio is 59.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About American States Water

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.