Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Acquires 9,894 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 66.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,894 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 12,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.4% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 64,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CWT. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.5 %

California Water Service Group stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.47. 716,053 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 369,398. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.64 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.70.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) 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). The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.37%.

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.