Aigen Investment Management LP Raises Stock Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,747,000 after purchasing an additional 110,962 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 135.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 68,914 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,765,000 after acquiring an additional 57,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,548,000 after acquiring an additional 48,055 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 2.5 %

CWT stock opened at $47.92 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.87 and a 200-day moving average of $49.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 36.70%.

About California Water Service Group

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.