Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Takes Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 42,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the third quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 1,475.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE CWT opened at $49.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.29 and a fifty-two week high of $50.94.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The company had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.