AlphaQuest LLC Raises Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 3,195,600.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,956 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.05% of California Water Service Group worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,907,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,386,000 after acquiring an additional 16,346 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,458,000 after purchasing an additional 14,183 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 7.3% in the second quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 751,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,200,000 after purchasing an additional 51,423 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 706,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,126,000 after buying an additional 45,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at about $30,757,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT stock opened at $44.76 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.29 and a 1 year high of $51.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.56.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $311.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.35 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 13.61%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CWT. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.