Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 15th, 2023

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,433 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American States Water were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,255,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,257,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of American States Water in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.67.

American States Water Trading Up 2.6 %

American States Water stock opened at $91.77 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.34. American States Water has a 1 year low of $71.22 and a 1 year high of $100.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.31.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $125.37 million for the quarter. American States Water had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.3975 per share. This represents a $1.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.