Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 14,115 Shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 395,391 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,115 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.03% of American States Water worth $31,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in American States Water by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 198.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This represents a 11.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.66. 213,953 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 218,430. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.85. American States Water Company has a 52-week low of $70.30 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 20.22%. The company had revenue of $148.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. American States Water's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.23%.

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.