Rhumbline Advisers Sells 8,056 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,056 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.32% of California Water Service Group worth $9,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $47.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.66. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month 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.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm’s revenue was down 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 52.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CWT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th.

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.