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 American States Water stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

American States Water Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE AWR opened at $79.30 on Friday. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.01 and a 200-day moving average of $80.09. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 58.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research 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 Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,254,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in American States Water by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,118,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,935,000 after purchasing an additional 264,257 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 107.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 197,556 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of American States Water by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 350,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,250,000 after purchasing an additional 82,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.