Legal & General Group Plc Sells 16,045 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 553,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,045 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.93% of California Water Service Group worth $25,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,998,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 308,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,994,000 after acquiring an additional 147,043 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,747,000 after acquiring an additional 110,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth $4,704,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $50.27 on Monday. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.62 and a 200-day moving average of $48.04. 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 (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

About California Water Service Group

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.