1,745 Shares in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Purchased by Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE CWT opened at $53.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.93 and a 200-day moving average of $50.54.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,411.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,411.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.