The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 28,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CWT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $523,255,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $318,322,000 after buying an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,421,000 after buying an additional 732,004 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 1.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,094,000 after buying an additional 60,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CWT. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total value of $186,369.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,638.48. The trade was a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total value of $25,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,817 shares in the company, valued at $894,591.57. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $53.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.15 and its 200-day moving average is $46.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.50.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $308.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.50 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.36%.

California Water Service Group Company 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.