Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 3,675 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,675 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $670,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,823,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $535,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 19.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 194,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,021,000 after buying an additional 31,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 11.2% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 182,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,486,000 after buying an additional 18,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $51.96 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,157.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.