Putney Financial Group LLC Takes Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CWT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,998,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 158,295 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,384,000 after buying an additional 113,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,747,000 after buying an additional 110,962 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CWT shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.2%

CWT opened at $47.00 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.63%.

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.