First Trust Advisors LP Has $64.44 Million Stock Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 59,404 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.36% of California Water Service Group worth $64,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CWT. Amundi raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,907,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,386,000 after acquiring an additional 16,346 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,764,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,971,000 after acquiring an additional 35,844 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,458,000 after purchasing an additional 14,183 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 706,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,126,000 after purchasing an additional 45,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter worth about $30,757,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of CWT stock opened at $43.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.29 and a 1 year high of $51.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.