Aquatic Capital Management LLC Has $186,000 Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 71.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,010 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in American States Water were worth $186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of American States Water by 172.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in American States Water during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water 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 sale, the director now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AWR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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 research report on Monday, February 3rd.

American States Water Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.10. 177,146 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 216,064. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $78.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.66. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $69.46 and a fifty-two week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. American States Water's 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.