Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 165 Shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV trimmed its position in shares of American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in American States Water were worth $673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in American States Water during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,676,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in American States Water by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 73,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in American States Water by 192.4% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 4,769 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in American States Water by 1,541.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 45,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 43,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in American States Water by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other news, Director Diana M. Bonta sold 969 shares of American States Water 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,226,687. The trade was a 5.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

American States Water Price Performance

Shares of AWR stock opened at $76.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.03. American States Water has a one year low of $66.03 and a one year high of $87.50.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $143.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.17 million. American States Water had a net margin of 20.03% and a return on equity of 13.63%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4655 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. American States Water’s payout ratio is currently 58.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWR has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American States Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Bank of America downgraded shares of American States Water from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 stock from $84.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

About American States Water

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.