California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Bought by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.10% of California Water Service Group worth $2,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CWT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,998,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,642,000 after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 308,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,994,000 after purchasing an additional 147,043 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,747,000 after buying an additional 110,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,704,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.49 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $222.20 million during 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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