Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Purchases New Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $53.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.39.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,157.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.