Dean Investment Associates LLC Cuts Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lowered its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 77.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 50,387 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC's holdings in American States Water were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWR. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in American States Water by 110.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American States Water during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 49,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American States Water by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,884,000 after buying an additional 13,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in American States Water in the third quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR traded down $2.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.98. The stock had a trading volume of 38,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.56. American States Water has a 52 week low of $69.15 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.05.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. American States Water's payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AWR shares. Bank of America downgraded American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th.

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.