Amalgamated Bank Reduces Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth approximately $119,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.5 %

CWT stock opened at $50.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.81.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

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.