US Bancorp DE Trims Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

US Bancorp DE cut its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CWT. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,093,000 after buying an additional 1,031,103 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,609,000 after purchasing an additional 232,344 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,957,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,823,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 354.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 76,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 59,956 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $50.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.82. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.