International Assets Investment Management LLC Takes Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 13,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,050,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CWT. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,877,000 after buying an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 764.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,216,000 after purchasing an additional 116,185 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,570,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,313,000 after purchasing an additional 47,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $111,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,873 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,650. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.73 on Tuesday. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.47.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.40) EPS. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.