California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC trimmed its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CWT. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $670,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth approximately $6,823,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $535,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 194,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,021,000 after acquiring an additional 31,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 182,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,486,000 after purchasing an additional 18,388 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CWT opened at $51.29 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s 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.