California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 207.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,151 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, Penn Mutual Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CWT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $45.45 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.58.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.68%.

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.