Thomas A. Eichelberger Buys 640 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.62 per share, for a total transaction of $49,676.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $543,805.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

American States Water Price Performance

American States Water stock opened at $74.82 on Friday. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $92.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.43.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The company had revenue of $135.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 13.65%. American States Water’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American States Water

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,900,000 after purchasing an additional 132,674 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in American States Water by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,589,000 after buying an additional 153,409 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in American States Water by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,097,000 after buying an additional 3,597 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in American States Water by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 590,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,462,000 after buying an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,984,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American States Water from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th.

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.