Hoertkorn Richard Charles Cuts Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Hoertkorn Richard Charles lowered its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings in American States Water were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWR. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter worth about $80,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 702.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in American States Water by 193.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR stock opened at $84.42 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.53. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 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 company had revenue of $155.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from American States Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.