38,010 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 38,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,765,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,009,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 52,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 29,797 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth $2,061,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 416.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 257,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,696,000 after purchasing an additional 208,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,081,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester Snow sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total value of $25,105.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $894,591.57. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Broker raised California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $49.65 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.86. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $53.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $332.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.17 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 7.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a dividend of $0.3350 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.82%.

California Water Service Group Profile

California Water Service Group is a holding company that provides water and wastewater services through regulated utility subsidiaries. Its operations serve residential, commercial, industrial and public-sector customers, with services that include water delivery, wastewater collection and treatment, and related utility operations. The company serves communities in California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington. Its subsidiaries include California Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Washington Water Service.