Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of American States Water by 172.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American States Water by 16.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in American States Water by 400.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 332.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,753,000 after buying an additional 77,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in American States Water by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American States Water Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of American States Water stock traded down $0.88 on Tuesday, hitting $80.10. 459,253 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 201,301. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.14. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. Equities research analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

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.