Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 67,343 American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 67,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,234,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of American States Water at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 16.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American States Water by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,276 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 59.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 54,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 20,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in American States Water by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock traded up $1.64 on Friday, hitting $77.72. 146,773 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 216,437. The firm's 50 day moving average is $75.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.71. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. Sell-side analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. American States Water's payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AWR shares. Bank of America cut American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

About American States Water

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.