American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates cut its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in American States Water were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American States Water by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $343,900,000 after purchasing an additional 132,674 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in American States Water by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,389,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in American States Water by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 450,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,042 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in American States Water by 205.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 440,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,974,000 after purchasing an additional 296,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its holdings in American States Water by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 346,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,118,000 after purchasing an additional 34,328 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Price Performance

American States Water stock opened at $81.59 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70.

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

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

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.