American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Sold by Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV cut its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in American States Water were worth $673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in American States Water in the third quarter valued at $50,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in American States Water in the third quarter valued at $496,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in American States Water by 31.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American States Water by 11.9% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in American States Water by 86.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American States Water

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

American States Water Stock Down 1.3 %

AWR stock opened at $76.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50.

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

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

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.