California Water Service Group $CWT Holdings Increased by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 29.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,643 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 13,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 139.2% in the 1st quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 10,999 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 113.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 10,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CWT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $49.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.96. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.20 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.40%.

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.