California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Sold by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lessened its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,412 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 25.9% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at about $282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 3.5 %

CWT stock opened at $50.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.96%.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $30,153.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,750.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.