Kennondale Capital Management LLC Invests $431,000 in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Kennondale Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 172.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in American States Water by 16.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in American States Water by 400.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of American States Water by 332.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,753,000 after purchasing an additional 77,792 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $77.90 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AWR shares. Bank of America cut American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

American States Water Company 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.