D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Stake in American States Water Company $AWR

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its holdings in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. owned about 0.24% of American States Water worth $7,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AWR. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 62,545.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 149,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,731,000 after acquiring an additional 148,858 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.1% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 41.8% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 152,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,974,000 after acquiring an additional 44,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 81.1% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

American States Water stock opened at $76.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.07. American States Water Company has a 12-month low of $69.85 and a 12-month high of $87.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $163.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.64 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 20.26%.American States Water’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.504 per share. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American States Water in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

American States Water Profile

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.