New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,547 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,547 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,488,000 after purchasing an additional 43,285 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 51.7% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 32,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,107 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 52.3% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 14,646 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $44.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.42. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.74 and a 12 month high of $59.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $214.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.41 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.09%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CWT. TheStreet lowered California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on California Water Service Group from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

About California Water Service Group

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.