Spirit of America Management Corp NY Acquires 2,000 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 130.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 76.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth about $136,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $48.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.90. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $54.08.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.20 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.