Amundi Sells 262,525 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Amundi cut its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,909,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 262,525 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 3.21% of California Water Service Group worth $85,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 64,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,512,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE CWT opened at $47.51 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two 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 50 day simple moving average of $44.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.21. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) 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). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 36.70%.

California Water Service Group 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.

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