California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Bought by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 21,048.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,683 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $54.98 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $55.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.83. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.