California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 10.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 761 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 over the last ninety days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $55.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $55.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

California Water Service Group Company 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.