Nuance Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in California Water Service Group $CWT

Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,931 shares during the quarter. California Water Service Group accounts for 8.7% of Nuance Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $79,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,322,000 after acquiring an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in California Water Service Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,276,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,318,000 after acquiring an additional 369,430 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,420,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,579,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in California Water Service Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,444,000 after acquiring an additional 59,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 763,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,586 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CWT. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.4%

CWT stock opened at $45.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.66. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.29 and a 52 week high of $50.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.53.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The business had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total value of $32,952.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,357.15. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,030,756.50. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,432 shares of company stock valued at $412,810. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.