Sonen Capital LLC Invests $231,000 in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Sonen Capital LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 38,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CWT. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT stock opened at $47.93 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.31.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.40) earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.80%.

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.