American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Stock Holdings Lifted by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of American States Water worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in American States Water during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in American States Water by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American States Water Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AWR stock opened at $76.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.29. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. As a group, research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 58.68%.

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.