Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires 12,682 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 26.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,682 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned 0.10% of California Water Service Group worth $2,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,738,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,634,000 after buying an additional 462,394 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 5,365.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 368,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after acquiring an additional 361,339 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,349,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 577,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,172,000 after acquiring an additional 130,620 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,979,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CWT shares. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.69 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.29 and a one year high of $52.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.51.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The business had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

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.