Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,682 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $2,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1,475.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group 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 transaction, the director owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.63 and a 200 day moving average of $45.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.51. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $41.29 and a 12-month high of $52.51.

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 business had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

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.