Amundi Reduces Stock Holdings in American States Water Company $AWR

Key Points

• Amundi cut its American States Water stake by 90.9% in the second quarter, selling 203,332 shares and retaining 20,470 shares worth approximately $1.69 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.24% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: one analyst rates AWR a Buy and two rate it Hold, resulting in a consensus rating of Hold.
• American States Water exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.09 in EPS versus a $0.93 estimate and revenue of $181.29 million. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5455 per share, implying a 2.5% annualized yield.

Amundi cut its stake in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 90.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 203,332 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.05% of American States Water worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in American States Water in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the second quarter worth $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 113.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American States Water from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Freedom Capital raised shares of American States Water to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of American States Water from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anne Holloway sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $79,974.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,422,709.48. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $86.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90. American States Water Company has a 1 year low of $69.45 and a 1 year high of $91.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.57. The business's 50 day moving average price is $87.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.57.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $181.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.72 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 13.50%. American States Water's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American States Water Company will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.5455 per share. This is an increase from American States Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.73%.

American States Water Profile

American States Water Company NYSE: AWR is a holding company that provides water, wastewater, and electric utility services through its operating subsidiaries. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers, with its activities focused primarily on regulated utility operations and contracted infrastructure services.

Through Golden State Water Company, American States Water provides drinking water and wastewater services to communities in California.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AWR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.