AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 49,420 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 75.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,420 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.19% of California Water Service Group worth $5,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,029,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,824,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,769,000 after purchasing an additional 527,343 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 985,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,740,000 after purchasing an additional 56,993 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 700,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,949,000 after purchasing an additional 52,158 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,562,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CWT. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:CWT opened at $46.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.69. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.64 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

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

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.