US Bancorp DE Sells 232 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 3.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in American States Water were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water during the second quarter worth $42,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 31.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in American States Water during the second quarter valued at $80,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 702.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in American States Water by 193.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AWR. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AWR opened at $86.35 on Tuesday. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.49. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.94.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The firm had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

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.