American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Position Cut by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP lowered its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,935 shares during the quarter. American States Water comprises approximately 0.8% of Atom Investors LP's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Atom Investors LP owned approximately 0.24% of American States Water worth $7,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in American States Water by 18.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,203,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water during the 1st quarter valued at $533,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 10,538 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in American States Water by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,936 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,389,000 after acquiring an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE AWR traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $85.77. 233,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 220,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 4.48 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. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.97.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $161.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.02 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water's payout ratio is 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.