Redmond Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 4,450 American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,599,000 after buying an additional 144,510 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 8,274.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,767,000 after buying an additional 305,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Up 0.2 %

AWR stock opened at $75.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.25 and a 200 day moving average of $80.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.