California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Sold by Triodos Investment Management BV

Triodos Investment Management BV trimmed its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 414,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 79,000 shares during the period. Triodos Investment Management BV’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $18,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 291.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total transaction of $32,952.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,357.15. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $171,248.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,100. This represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,432 shares of company stock valued at $412,810. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CWT. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $45.12 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.71 and a 200-day moving average of $44.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.51. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $50.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.00%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.