California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.19% of California Water Service Group worth $5,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at $210,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at $219,000. Penn Mutual Asset Management acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at $239,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $46.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

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.