American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Hits New 12-Month Low at $68.08

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $68.08 and last traded at $68.50, with a volume of 9342 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of American States Water from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

American States Water Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.43. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $72.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.03.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. American States Water had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $125.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.04%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger purchased 1,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.21 per share, for a total transaction of $99,694.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,578.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 633.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 363 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.