American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 484,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,489 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.29% of American States Water worth $37,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AWR. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in American States Water by 8,274.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 309,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,767,000 after purchasing an additional 305,669 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in American States Water by 114.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,599,000 after acquiring an additional 144,510 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in American States Water by 332.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 101,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,753,000 after acquiring an additional 77,792 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American States Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in American States Water by 172.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Stock Performance

American States Water stock opened at $75.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.64. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $143.10 million during 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 13.96%. Research analysts expect that American States Water will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s payout ratio is 58.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American States Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American States Water from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.