Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 395,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,115 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in American States Water were worth $31,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American States Water during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,254,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of American States Water by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,118,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,935,000 after acquiring an additional 264,257 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 62,545.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 149,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after buying an additional 148,858 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 350,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,250,000 after buying an additional 82,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of American States Water by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 603,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,924,000 after buying an additional 76,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American States Water

In other news, Director Thomas A. Eichelberger bought 897 shares of American States Water stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.81 per share, for a total transaction of $68,898.57. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,350.27. This trade represents a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $74.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.89. American States Water Company has a 12 month low of $70.30 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.61.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $148.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.22% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American States Water Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 57.23%.

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.