Versor Investments LP Has $247,000 Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,117 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 70.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after buying an additional 57,811 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 297.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 16,966 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth approximately $588,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after acquiring an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CWT stock opened at $46.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.50.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.70%.

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.