American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Director Sells $74,613.00 in Stock

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $1.01 on Tuesday, reaching $76.99. 193,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 197,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.08 and a 200 day moving average of $80.06. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. Equities analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

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American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American States Water

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 14.0% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the third quarter valued at $496,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American States Water by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.