Perigon Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in California Water Service Group $CWT

Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 10,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 228.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.1%

California Water Service Group stock opened at $49.90 on Thursday. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $53.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.13. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $308.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total value of $186,369.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,104 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,638.48. This represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

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.