Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $442,000 Stock Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 976 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 130.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 204.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 315,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 211,914 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 7.6% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at $5,461,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 75.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 114,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 49,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.1%

California Water Service Group stock opened at $47.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CWT. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.