Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CWT. State Street Corp grew its position in California Water Service Group by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,369,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,288,000 after buying an additional 1,140,204 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,387,000. Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in California Water Service Group by 2,396.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,706,000 after buying an additional 440,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in California Water Service Group by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,135,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,439,000 after buying an additional 292,111 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.90, for a total transaction of $28,804.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,825.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $46.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.20 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $44.83 and a one year high of $61.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $214.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.41 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 6.53%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 125.84%.

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.