The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 19,160 American States Water Company $AWR

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,583,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth about $26,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the second quarter worth about $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in American States Water by 113.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded American States Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded American States Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised American States Water to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR opened at $89.66 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.57. American States Water Company has a one year low of $69.45 and a one year high of $91.72.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.16. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 20.52%.The firm had revenue of $181.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that American States Water Company will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.5455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 59.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Anne Holloway sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total value of $79,974.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,422,709.48. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American States Water Profile

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.