Centiva Capital LP Purchases Shares of 8,930 American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,930 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $744,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AWR. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American States Water in the first quarter valued at $533,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of American States Water by 702.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of American States Water by 31.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 9.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water in the second quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR stock traded down $0.63 on Friday, reaching $82.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 170,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,390. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.51. American States Water has a 12-month low of $66.03 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $84.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. American States Water's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. American States Water's payout ratio is presently 62.63%.

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.