IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $370,000 Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CWT. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 22.4% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 296,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,363,000 after acquiring an additional 7,456 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at about $74,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 113.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 10,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,225,491.99. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT opened at $45.48 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $203.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.84%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.