Martingale Asset Management L P Raises Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,088 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.13% of California Water Service Group worth $3,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 70.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,450,000 after buying an additional 26,299 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 135.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 68,914 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 31,412 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.87. The stock had a trading volume of 86,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,897. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.75 and a 200 day moving average of $48.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is an increase from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

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.