Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CWT stock opened at $51.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.44.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $30,153.15. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,750.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group 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.