State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.06% of California Water Service Group worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CWT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 38,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:CWT opened at $45.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $54.75. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.89.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS 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 business had revenue of $264.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.