Martingale Asset Management L P Has $3.67 Million Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 67,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,534 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $3,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,491,000 after acquiring an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the 2nd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,548,000 after acquiring an additional 48,055 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,605,000 after acquiring an additional 19,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,753,000 after acquiring an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. This represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CWT opened at $51.23 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $56.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.15 and its 200-day moving average is $51.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 0.49.

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

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

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.