Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $4.55 Million Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.17% of California Water Service Group worth $4,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 1,475.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CWT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. One 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.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $49.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.67. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.29 and a one year high of $53.82.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $308.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.