CenterBook Partners LP Purchases 13,678 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

CenterBook Partners LP raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 66.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,678 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth about $85,000. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 60,931 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 58,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $958,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $171,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,525 shares in the company, valued at $375,100. This trade represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,432 shares of company stock valued at $412,810 over the last ninety days. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.67. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.29 and a one year high of $50.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.53.

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

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.