Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,201 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 16.1% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 29,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,165 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 130.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 204.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 315,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 211,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 75.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 114,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,572,000 after buying an additional 49,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CWT shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $45.84 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.65. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.17). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.The company had revenue of $311.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.40%.

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.