Thematics Asset Management Has $4.61 Million Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

Thematics Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 35.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 54,000 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management owned about 0.17% of California Water Service Group worth $4,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 82,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in California Water Service Group by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 240,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,019,000 after purchasing an additional 68,923 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 45.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after acquiring an additional 16,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $45.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.01 and a 200-day moving average of $45.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.29 and a 12 month high of $51.63.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $265.61 million during 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%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

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

California Water Service Group Profile

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.