Wells Fargo & Company MN Acquires 6,184 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.15% of American States Water worth $4,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,831,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,506,000 after buying an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in American States Water by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,118,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,935,000 after purchasing an additional 264,257 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 855,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $66,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at $45,254,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 484,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,653,000 after purchasing an additional 102,489 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.60. 96,443 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 218,390. 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 company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.56. American States Water has a 52-week low of $69.37 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.03.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. American States Water's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.