California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,110 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CWT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 58.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on California Water Service Group from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE CWT opened at $44.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.64 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.37. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $43.50 and a 12-month high of $59.64.

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 125.84%.

About California Water Service Group

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.