American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Sells $50,033.96 in Stock

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) Director Anne Holloway sold 662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.58, for a total transaction of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,979,212.44. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $76.30. The stock had a trading volume of 264,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 289,263. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.48. American States Water Company has a 1-year low of $69.45 and a 1-year high of $81.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). American States Water had a net margin of 19.66% and a return on equity of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $169.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.71 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, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.504 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 58.89%.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWR. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 610.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 113.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AWR. Zacks Research raised shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

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.