Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,000 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,993 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,488,000 after purchasing an additional 43,285 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 654,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 95,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 613,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,826,000 after buying an additional 32,053 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $111,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,650. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.26, for a total transaction of $29,559.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,916.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $111,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE CWT opened at $48.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.55 and a 200-day moving average of $48.26. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $54.85.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.40) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CWT. UBS Group raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.25.

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.