Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in American States Water Company $AWR

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 33,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,526,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the 1st quarter valued at $238,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,675,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 650,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,133,000 after buying an additional 72,253 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 3,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR opened at $82.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.41. American States Water Company has a 52-week low of $69.45 and a 52-week high of $83.73.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $169.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.02 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.06% and a net margin of 19.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that American States Water Company will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.504 per share. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Anne M. 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 value of $50,033.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 39,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,212.44. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul J. Rowley sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.05, for a total transaction of $99,169.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,846. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AWR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.