Ballentine Partners LLC Invests $234,000 in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 255.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $85,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CWT. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $43.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.86. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.64 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.37%.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

California Water Service Group 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.