SG Americas Securities LLC Takes $568,000 Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

SG Americas Securities 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 11,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,764 shares of company stock valued at $141,590 in the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.0 %

CWT stock opened at $54.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.82 and a 200-day moving average of $48.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 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 $55.15.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

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.