State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,867 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of California Water Service Group worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,609,000 after acquiring an additional 232,344 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in California Water Service Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,093,000 after buying an additional 1,031,103 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 19,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,753,000 after buying an additional 10,819 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.85. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

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.