American States Water Company $AWR Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,975,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,702 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of American States Water worth $360,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWR. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 864,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,977 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 55.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,847,000 after buying an additional 258,388 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in American States Water by 0.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 584,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,815,000 after buying an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in American States Water by 23.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,696,000 after buying an additional 62,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 9.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 284,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,394,000 after acquiring an additional 25,333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AWR. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

American States Water Stock Performance

NYSE AWR opened at $75.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.39. American States Water Company has a 1-year low of $69.45 and a 1-year high of $82.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 19.82%.The firm had revenue of $169.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water Company will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.504 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.64%.

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.