Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Stock Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 7.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,856 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,609,000 after buying an additional 232,344 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,013,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,079,000 after buying an additional 872,865 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE CWT opened at $53.10 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.54.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. Analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,157.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.