Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 642 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of American States Water worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 14.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of American States Water during the third quarter valued at $496,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of American States Water by 31.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $74,613.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,226,687. This trade represents a 5.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

American States Water Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $77.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.06. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.17 million. American States Water had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 20.03%. Analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio is 58.68%.

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.