Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires 6,146 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 8.0%, acquiring an additional 6,146 shares, and now owns a total of 82,945 shares valued at approximately $4.02 million.
• California Water Service Group recently reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 8.5% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.6%, set to be paid on August 22nd to investors of record on August 11th.

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,146 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.14% of California Water Service Group worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 62,044 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,812,000 after buying an additional 4,903 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at $5,461,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 119,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,435,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 686.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 296,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CWT shares. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $56.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 26,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,491.99. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of California Water Service Group stock traded up $0.7990 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.5690. The stock had a trading volume of 290,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,250. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $46.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.66.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.