Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 33,371 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,831,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,371 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.90% of American States Water worth $375,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AWR. Barclays PLC raised 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 worth $6,554,000 after buying an additional 49,851 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of American States Water by 400.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 332.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,753,000 after purchasing an additional 77,792 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in American States Water by 192.4% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 4,769 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American States Water Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $77.84 on Thursday. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $87.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.63.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. Equities research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

American States Water Company 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.