California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Sold by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors cut its stake in California Water Service Group by 95.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 95,071 shares and leaving it with 4,406 shares worth about $191,000.
• Insider selling was also noted, including director Lester A. Snow and VP Michael S. Mares, Jr., with insiders selling 9,432 shares total over the last 90 days. Despite this, institutional investors still own 82.78% of the stock.
• California Water Service Group reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS estimates at $0.07 versus $0.25 expected, though revenue came in slightly above forecasts at $214.57 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.335 per share, yielding about 3.0% annually.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 95.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 95,071 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $318,322,000 after acquiring an additional 34,155 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,276,599 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $104,318,000 after acquiring an additional 369,430 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,764,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,971,000 after acquiring an additional 35,844 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,444,000 after acquiring an additional 59,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 760,261 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,888,000 after acquiring an additional 53,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CWT. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $171,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,525 shares in the company, valued at $375,100. This trade represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,432 shares of company stock valued at $412,810 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $45.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.69. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $50.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.51.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is 67.00%.

California Water Service Group Profile

California Water Service Group NYSE: CWT is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.

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