ProShare Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 15.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 154,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,377 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $7,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $53.15 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,210,241.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock valued at $202,318. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to 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 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.