Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly reduced its stake in California Water Service Group by 75.3%, bringing its total shares to 9,953 after selling 30,339 shares in Q2.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for CWT, with a target price of $56.00, indicating potential growth despite some firms adjusting their ratings.
• California Water Service Group reported earnings of $0.71 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 75.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 30,339 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 204.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 315,685 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,298,000 after buying an additional 211,914 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at $5,461,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 61.6% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 16,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 6,463 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 178.3% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 7,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 686.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $45.73 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.96. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $54.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.The business had revenue of $264.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

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.

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