First Trust Advisors LP Has $61.40 Million Stake in California Water Service Group $CWT

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,354,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,813 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.26% of California Water Service Group worth $61,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $318,322,000 after purchasing an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,602,000 after buying an additional 36,296 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,738,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,634,000 after buying an additional 462,394 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,094,000 after buying an additional 60,931 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,420,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,579,000 after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.71. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.29 and a 52 week high of $52.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.00%.

California Water Service Group Profile

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.