Robeco Schweiz AG Grows Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Robeco Schweiz AG grew its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 346,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,328 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG’s holdings in American States Water were worth $25,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 633.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 44,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American States Water during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

American States Water Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $81.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $85.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.49.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $155.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 18.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.78%.

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.