SkyOak Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

SkyOak Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 785 shares during the quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in American States Water by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,628,000 after acquiring an additional 11,867 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company 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 report on Thursday, September 12th.

American States Water Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $84.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $85.71. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49.

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

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a boost from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. American States Water’s payout ratio is presently 60.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,801.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.