First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,014,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,343 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.71% of American States Water worth $78,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 439 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 2,173.9% during 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in American States Water by 367.3% in 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. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $80.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.13 and a 200 day moving average of $79.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. American States Water has a 12 month low of $68.26 and a 12 month high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.17 million. On average, research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American States Water from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut shares of American States Water from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th.

American States Water Company 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.

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