Xponance Inc. Acquires New Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,670,000 after acquiring an additional 22,192 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 36.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 62,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth about $37,998,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.6% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 13,971 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $45.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.51, for a total transaction of $55,812.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,491.99. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

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.