Versor Investments LP Buys New Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 12,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3,195,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 31,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 31,956 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 277,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,723,000 after buying an additional 35,627 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 270.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 32,750 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 178,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,191,000 after buying an additional 23,622 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,444,000 after buying an additional 59,404 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE CWT opened at $43.34 on Thursday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $50.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CWT. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $171,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,100. This trade represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total value of $32,952.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,357.15. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

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.