US Bancorp DE Grows Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 390 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in American States Water were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR opened at $77.47 on Thursday. American States Water has a 1-year low of $66.03 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.11.

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

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. American States Water’s payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.