Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 426 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $89,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CWT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 135.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,559,000 after acquiring an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after buying an additional 31,412 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after purchasing an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth $234,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock opened at $50.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.97.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CWT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $54.67.

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.