California Water Service Group $CWT Stake Lifted by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 706,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,155 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 1.19% of California Water Service Group worth $32,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 130.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 76.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $136,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CWT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $45.59 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.33. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $51.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $311.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.35 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.40%.

California Water Service Group Company 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.