American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $90.21 and last traded at $89.2710, with a volume of 17240 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AWR. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American States Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered 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 raised American States Water to a “hold” rating in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

American States Water Trading Up 0.3%

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 stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.73.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water 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 transaction of $79,974.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,422,709.48. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AWR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in American States Water during the second quarter valued at $602,749,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in American States Water by 128.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,347,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 758,452 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,337,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in American States Water during the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,870,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in American States Water by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 738,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,495,000 after acquiring an additional 164,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.