AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,333 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in American States Water were worth $569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in American States Water by 9.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 78,866 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,697,000 after acquiring an additional 6,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in American States Water in the first quarter worth approximately $534,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AWR. StockNews.com lowered American States Water from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $40,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,115,801.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR traded up $0.59 on Tuesday, reaching $85.97. 188,250 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 219,970. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $82.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.95. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $86.91.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.02). American States Water had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business had revenue of $155.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.4655 dividend. This is an increase from American States Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

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.