Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 46,056 California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 46,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,088,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC owned about 0.08% of California Water Service Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Family Office LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Penn Mutual Asset Management bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT opened at $47.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.70%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.