HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.25 Million Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,580 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 35.4% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,769,000 after buying an additional 527,343 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 985,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,740,000 after buying an additional 56,993 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,384,000 after buying an additional 113,622 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at about $21,562,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 317,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,389,000 after buying an additional 15,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $46.7350 on Tuesday. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $41.64 and a 12-month high of $56.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.95.

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

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,491.99. This represents 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 link. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Company 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.