Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 2,164 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,164 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of California Water Service Group worth $1,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after acquiring an additional 57,811 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,670,000 after acquiring an additional 22,192 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 5,806 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 9,894 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $49.56 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.86. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWT. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.