Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $3.41 Million Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.12% of American States Water worth $3,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWR. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of American States Water in the third quarter valued at approximately $496,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in American States Water by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American States Water by 11.9% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of American States Water by 29.6% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 158,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,184,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American States Water Trading Down 0.7 %

AWR stock opened at $76.58 on Thursday. American States Water has a 52 week low of $66.03 and a 52 week high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $160.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.43%. American States Water’s payout ratio is 58.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

About American States Water

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.