LPL Financial LLC Has $976,000 Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 55.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after buying an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 9,894 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 5,806 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 135.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.2 %

California Water Service Group stock opened at $50.82 on Monday. The company 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.25 and a 200-day moving average of $47.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 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 analyst estimates of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

California Water Service Group 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.