Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 35.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $62,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,093,000 after buying an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 7.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,605,000 after purchasing an additional 19,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 3.8 %

CWT stock opened at $46.09 on Thursday. 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 $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.60.

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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

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.