Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 15.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,950 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 29,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,165 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 71,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,234,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 130.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $49.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.94. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $53.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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. 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 52.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CWT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

California Water Service Group 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.