Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 69,577 California Water Service Group $CWT

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 69,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CWT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 113.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 296,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,456 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 22.4% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $45.00 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.65 and a 200 day moving average of $46.80. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $52.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.68.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.17). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The company had revenue of $311.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

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.