Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Sells 528 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $119,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CWT shares. Bank of America started coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE CWT opened at $43.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.13. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $56.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.52.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released 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). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.