Atom Investors LP Raises Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Atom Investors LP grew its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 118.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,290 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CWT. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,823,000. Arjuna Capital acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,724,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 354.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 76,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 59,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth $2,761,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $50.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.82. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.