Beck Bode LLC Sells 13,843 Shares of California Water Service Group $CWT

Beck Bode LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 388,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,843 shares during the period. California Water Service Group comprises approximately 2.8% of Beck Bode LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $16,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of CWT opened at $43.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.74 and a 200 day moving average of $44.77. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.29 and a fifty-two week high of $50.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 67.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,030,756.50. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $171,248.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $375,100. The trade was a 31.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,332 shares of company stock valued at $364,410 in the last quarter. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

California Water Service Group 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.