Amundi Acquires 18,344 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Amundi grew its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 18,344 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.67% of American States Water worth $18,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American States Water in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in American States Water by 2,173.9% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in American States Water by 198.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in American States Water in the third quarter valued at $50,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $77.90. 235,612 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 197,625. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $75.01 and its 200-day moving average is $80.08.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

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.