63,323 Shares in California Water Service Group $CWT Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 63,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 311,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,095,000 after acquiring an additional 54,277 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,979,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 432.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 22,059 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 16.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 4,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $805,904. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total transaction of $186,369.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,104 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,638.48. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.88 on Tuesday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.29 and a fifty-two week high of $53.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.50.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $308.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.50 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 12.63%.California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.