Amundi Grows Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Amundi lifted its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 251,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,344 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in American States Water were worth $18,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 367.3% in the fourth 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. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of American States Water by 2,173.9% in the fourth 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of American States Water by 198.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in American States Water during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American States Water Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AWR opened at $78.02 on Friday. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.11. 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 capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.