American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Bought by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 609,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,938 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.63% of American States Water worth $47,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of American States Water by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 downgraded 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

American States Water Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AWR traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $80.39. 12,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 218,406. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.56. 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 has a 50 day moving average of $77.01 and a 200 day moving average of $79.06. American States Water has a 1-year low of $68.26 and a 1-year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.