Old Port Advisors Makes New Investment in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Old Port Advisors bought a new position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CWT. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the second quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the third quarter worth approximately $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $51.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.44.

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

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note 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.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

California Water Service Group 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.