Cozad Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American States Water were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in American States Water by 172.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American States Water by 16.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in American States Water by 400.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 4,952 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in American States Water by 332.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,753,000 after acquiring an additional 77,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 102,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $77.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.06. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. Equities analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.39%. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 58.68%.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 15,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,226,687. This represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.