Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 19,275 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Legato Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 75.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,275 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 8,274.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,767,000 after buying an additional 305,669 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 107.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,815,000 after buying an additional 197,556 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 114.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,599,000 after buying an additional 144,510 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 77,792 shares during the period. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth $3,956,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Price Performance

NYSE:AWR opened at $74.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.53. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

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.