California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,805 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.07% of California Water Service Group worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 130.1% during 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 1.6%

CWT opened at $44.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.86. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $52.83. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $311.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.35 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 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

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.