North Star Investment Management Corp. Raises Holdings in Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS)

North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in shares of Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS) by 46.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 108,500 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned about 1.27% of Global Water Resources worth $3,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GWRS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 11.3% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,525,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,723,000 after buying an additional 155,000 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 98.4% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 61,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 30,500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 44,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 23,113 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 35,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Global Water Resources by 4,273.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 14,659 shares during the period. 27.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew M. Cohn purchased 252,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.00 per share, with a total value of $2,520,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,379,899 shares in the company, valued at $23,798,990. This represents a 11.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 54.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Water Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd.

Global Water Resources Stock Down 2.8%

Global Water Resources stock opened at $10.37 on Friday. Global Water Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.37 and a 1-year high of $13.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $284.67 million, a PE ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.09.

Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Global Water Resources had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $12.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Global Water Resources, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Water Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a jun 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.0253 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Global Water Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 130.43%.

Global Water Resources Profile

Global Water Resources, Inc, a water resource management company, owns, operates, and manages regulated water, wastewater, and recycled water systems primarily in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. It serves approximately 82,000 people in approximately 32,000 homes. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.