Strs Ohio Acquires New Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $887,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 751.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $74,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.9%

CWT stock opened at $45.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.02. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $54.75.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $264.95 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CWT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.