California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lessened its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWTFree Report) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $45,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after purchasing an additional 24,275 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,548,000 after acquiring an additional 48,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $42.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.17. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $56.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NYSE:CWTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CWT. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

Read Our Latest Report on California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CWT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWTFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Receive News & Ratings for California Water Service Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for California Water Service Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.