Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 55,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $3,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 255.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.0 %

CWT opened at $51.62 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.