Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stock Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 409,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,653 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.09% of American States Water worth $31,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in American States Water by 367.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in American States Water in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American States Water by 18,820.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in American States Water by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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American States Water Stock Performance

AWR stock traded down $2.63 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.43. The company had a trading volume of 117,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,666. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. American States Water has a twelve month low of $66.03 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.13.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water's payout ratio is 58.68%.

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.