Rhumbline Advisers Cuts Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,358 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.32% of American States Water worth $9,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in American States Water by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in American States Water by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of American States Water by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWR opened at $75.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.53. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.68%.

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.