Magellan Asset Management Ltd Raises Stock Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned 0.07% of California Water Service Group worth $1,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,624,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,034,000 after acquiring an additional 79,168 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in California Water Service Group by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,369,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140,204 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,330,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,313,000 after purchasing an additional 126,979 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,278,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,552,000 after purchasing an additional 9,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,240,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,518,000 after buying an additional 14,621 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $50.08. The stock had a trading volume of 19,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,543. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.43. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.44 and a fifty-two week high of $66.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.94 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.79.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $254.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.23 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total transaction of $28,732.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,731 shares in the company, valued at $1,435,633.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total value of $28,732.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,435,633.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $111,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,414,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.