Diana M. Bonta Sells 969 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the business’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 directly owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

American States Water Stock Performance

American States Water stock opened at $79.30 on Monday. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. As a group, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Bank of America downgraded American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 172.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 16.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 400.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 332.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.