Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.48 Million Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of California Water Service Group worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 255.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $219,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.1 %

CWT opened at $45.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.58. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.64 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 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 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 34.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CWT. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

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.