Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 45,825 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 93,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,825 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $5,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,609,000 after purchasing an additional 232,344 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,491,000 after acquiring an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,605,000 after acquiring an additional 19,118 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,753,000 after acquiring an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $51.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.43 and a 200-day moving average of $51.87.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.