27,112 Shares in California Water Service Group $CWT Acquired by Maven Securities LTD

Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 27,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $44.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.37. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $51.63.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $265.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.