Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 826,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,009 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.21% of American States Water worth $64,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American States Water by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,831,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,506,000 after purchasing an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in American States Water by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,118,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,935,000 after acquiring an additional 264,257 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 855,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $66,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in American States Water by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,393,000 after acquiring an additional 32,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $79.68. The stock had a trading volume of 195,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,037. 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 capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50 day moving average is $78.22 and its 200 day moving average is $78.75. American States Water has a twelve month low of $69.46 and a twelve month high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business posted $0.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,226,687. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

American States Water Company 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.