American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.08% of American States Water worth $2,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in American States Water by 69.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,959 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in American States Water by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 74,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,831,000 after purchasing an additional 14,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American States Water by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 356,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,053,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.21 per share, for a total transaction of $99,694.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American States Water Stock Up 1.8 %

AWR stock opened at $72.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.43. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $92.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

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.