Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in American States Water were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,239,000 after purchasing an additional 51,731 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,572,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,218,000 after purchasing an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,622,000 after purchasing an additional 53,468 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,589,000 after purchasing an additional 153,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 770,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,491,000 after purchasing an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In related news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.21 per share, for a total transaction of $99,694.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE:AWR opened at $67.11 on Thursday. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $92.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.43.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $125.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 20.97%. American States Water’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.04%.

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.