Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Cuts Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 730,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,724 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $33,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,907,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,386,000 after acquiring an additional 16,346 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,764,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,971,000 after purchasing an additional 35,844 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,458,000 after purchasing an additional 14,183 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,444,000 after purchasing an additional 59,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in California Water Service Group by 7.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 760,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,888,000 after purchasing an additional 53,895 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $44.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.29 and a 1 year high of $51.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 12.82%.The firm had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.