Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in American States Water were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 859.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 21,236 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 0.8% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 44,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,008,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in American States Water by 10.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 45,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in American States Water by 52.3% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in American States Water by 53.9% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

AWR opened at $82.49 on Friday. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.00. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $155.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.