American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Sold by Cullen Capital Management LLC

Cullen Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,032 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $375,506,000 after purchasing an additional 33,371 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in American States Water by 30.9% in 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 buying an additional 264,257 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American States Water by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 855,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,471,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,254,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $37,653,000 after acquiring an additional 102,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American States Water Price Performance

American States Water stock opened at $78.67 on Friday. 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.57.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American States Water news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.