Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Takes $2.03 Million Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.07% of California Water Service Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $53.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,411.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.