American States Water (NYSE:AWR) declared a dividend payable on June 2, 2021 to its shareholders as of April 30, 2021. It was also announced that shareholders of American States Water's stock as of May 17, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. American States Water has an ex-dividend date planned for May 14, 2021. The company's current dividend payout sits at $0.34. That equates to a dividend yield of 1.7% at current price levels.

An ex-dividend date is when a company's shares stop trading with its current dividend payout in preparation for the company to announce a new one. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Over the past year, American States Water has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and yields. Last year on May 14, 2020 the company's payout was $0.3, which has since grown by $0.03. Similarly, American States Water's dividend yield in last year was 1.57%, which has since grown by 0.13%.
Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.