Legato Capital Management LLC Has $486,000 Stock Holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in American States Water (NYSE:AWR) by 75.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,275 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American States Water were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 367.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American States Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 18,820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

American States Water Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AWR opened at $74.11 on Friday. American States Water has a 12 month low of $66.03 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.76. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.53.

American States Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.4655 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. American States Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.63%.

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.