Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired 31,950 shares of California Water Service Group worth approximately $1.55 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 82.78% of the company.
• California Water Service Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.93 EPS versus the $0.80 consensus and revenue of $308.6 million, up 16.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with an average “Hold” rating and a $54 price target; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.335, yielding about 2.7%.

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,554,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned about 0.05% of California Water Service Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $523,255,000. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,324,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,285,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,421,000 after purchasing an additional 732,004 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,642,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total transaction of $186,369.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,638.48. This represents a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $50.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.88 and a 200-day moving average of $46.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $53.82.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $308.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.50 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 7.74%. California Water Service Group's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 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 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is 60.36%.

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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