JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 4,689 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 1.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 267,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,689 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $22,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 47,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of American States Water by 1.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 141,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 62,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,536,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 182.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 220,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,018,000 after buying an additional 142,664 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in American States Water by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Stock Down 0.2 %

AWR stock opened at $72.87 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.26. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 62.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on American States Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th.

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.