Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 31,421 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,421 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.09% of California Water Service Group worth $2,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,420 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CWT shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of California Water Service Group stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Monday, hitting $47.95. The stock had a trading volume of 47,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,322. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.70. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.62.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $203.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is currently 52.63%.

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.