California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 39.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 58,556 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $4,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 70.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 26,299 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after purchasing an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 9,894 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $48.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.31. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $41.64 and a 12-month high of $56.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.