Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 6,513 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 715,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,513 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.20% of California Water Service Group worth $34,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 62,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,812,000 after buying an additional 4,903 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,461,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 119,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,435,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 686.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 296,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,363,000 after buying an additional 7,456 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CWT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.51, for a total transaction of $55,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,225,491.99. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.8%

CWT opened at $46.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.01 and a 200-day moving average of $46.87. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $264.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.20 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.40%.

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.