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

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American States Water were worth $861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in American States Water by 172.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 16.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in American States Water by 400.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in American States Water by 110.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,884,000 after purchasing an additional 13,024 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American States Water Trading Up 0.2 %

American States Water stock opened at $75.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.47.

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. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 20.03%. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.68%.

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.