Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $1.17 Million Stock Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,509 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 44,380 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,936,000 after acquiring an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,877,000 after acquiring an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,867,000 after buying an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 764.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,380 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,216,000 after buying an additional 116,185 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,570,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,313,000 after buying an additional 47,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,956,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,829. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $58.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.29 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.98). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $214.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.41 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.63%. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is 125.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.50.

About California Water Service Group

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.