American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Sold by Dean Capital Management

Dean Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,795 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in American States Water were worth $772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in American States Water by 172.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American States Water by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,831,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,506,000 after buying an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in American States Water by 400.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 4,952 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,653,000 after acquiring an additional 102,489 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American States Water Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $79.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. American States Water has a 1-year low of $69.46 and a 1-year high of $87.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.03). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 58.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AWR shares. StockNews.com upgraded American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Bank of America cut American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

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.