Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 6,184 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.15% of American States Water worth $4,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $520,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 27,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in American States Water by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 74,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,772,000 after buying an additional 34,563 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American States Water by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 855,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American States Water Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AWR opened at $80.36 on Tuesday. American States Water has a one year low of $68.26 and a one 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.56.

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

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 58.68%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.