64,708 Shares in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Bought by Great West Life Assurance Co. Can

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 64,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,047,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWR. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American States Water by 16.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,572,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $291,218,000 after acquiring an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 463.2% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 104,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after buying an additional 85,713 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 7.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,048,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,326,000 after buying an additional 76,476 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,556,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $405,643,000 after buying an additional 63,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 174.5% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 75,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,740,000 after buying an additional 48,130 shares in the last quarter. 74.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Stock Up 0.2 %

AWR opened at $93.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.55 and its 200 day moving average is $88.81. American States Water has a fifty-two week low of $71.22 and a fifty-two week high of $100.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.07 and a beta of 0.40.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.01). American States Water had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $134.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.00 million. Research analysts expect that American States Water will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 14th. This represents a $1.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American States Water from $90.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of American States Water from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of American States Water in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $89.33.

American States Water Profile

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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.