California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 178.3%, acquiring a total of 12,430 shares worth $602,000.
• Other institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Deutsche Bank AG, also raised their stakes, showing strong institutional support as 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• California Water Service Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.71, surpassing analyst expectations, alongside a dividend of $0.30, which represents a yield of 2.6%.

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 178.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,963 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,384,000 after buying an additional 113,622 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 39,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 16,146 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 80,318 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,641,000 after buying an additional 40,008 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in California Water Service Group by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 119,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,435,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CWT shares. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of CWT stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $46.52. 81,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 361,045. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average is $46.17 and its 200-day moving average is $47.05. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69.

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

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.51, for a total transaction of $55,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,491.99. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

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.