IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Decreases Stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lessened its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,386 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 308,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,994,000 after buying an additional 147,043 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 79,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,642,000 after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares during the period. Finally, Bridge City Capital LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 46,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.8 %

CWT opened at $46.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $56.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.58 and a 200-day moving average of $48.61.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

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.