Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.64% of California Water Service Group worth $340,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the third 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,736,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 648,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,392,000 after purchasing an additional 36,142 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,747,000 after purchasing an additional 110,962 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 288,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,097,000 after purchasing an additional 11,328 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.8 %

CWT stock traded down $0.37 on Tuesday, reaching $47.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,449. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.16. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $41.64 and a 12-month 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.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $222.20 million for 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 last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group's 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.