Midwest Trust Co Acquires New Stake in California Water Service Group $CWT

Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 55,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,516,000. Midwest Trust Co owned about 0.09% of California Water Service Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 35.4% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,769,000 after acquiring an additional 527,343 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at $21,562,000. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth $17,728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 204.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 315,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,298,000 after buying an additional 211,914 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth $9,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CWT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $45.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.65. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.17). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.The business had revenue of $311.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.40%.

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.