D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 255.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the second 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock opened at $49.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.03 and a 200 day moving average of $51.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 32.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

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.