California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Acquired by Beck Bode LLC

Beck Bode LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 396,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,577 shares during the quarter. California Water Service Group makes up about 3.1% of Beck Bode LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $18,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 16.1% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 29,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 4,165 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 130.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 751,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,200,000 after purchasing an additional 51,423 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in 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 worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised 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 worth $15,298,000 after buying an additional 211,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT opened at $46.49 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.64 and a 1-year high of $52.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.30 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on California Water Service Group in a research note 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

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.