Millennium Management LLC Buys New Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 56,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.10% of California Water Service Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 70,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,081,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 2,414 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,157.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,220 shares of company stock valued at $119,503 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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 raised their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.6 %

California Water Service Group stock opened at $53.22 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

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.