Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 338 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in American States Water were worth $3,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in American States Water by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,884,000 after acquiring an additional 13,024 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 434,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,765,000 after purchasing an additional 15,750 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 251,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,319,000 after buying an additional 18,344 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in American States Water by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 158,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,184,000 after buying an additional 36,122 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American States Water news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AWR opened at $76.58 on Thursday. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.23 and its 200-day moving average is $80.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. Equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

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.