Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Takes $377,000 Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 12,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,750.98. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE CWT opened at $50.97 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.37%.

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.