D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 680 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. owned approximately 0.26% of American States Water worth $8,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in American States Water by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American States Water by 25.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in American States Water in the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in American States Water by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 54,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 20,503 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in American States Water by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,276 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American States Water Stock Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $85.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $84.05 and its 200 day moving average is $79.76.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American States Water had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AWR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th.

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.