Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $39.28 Million Investment in California Water Service Group $CWT

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 807,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.31% of California Water Service Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth $523,255,000. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at $53,324,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,421,000 after purchasing an additional 732,004 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,642,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 5,365.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 368,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,891,000 after purchasing an additional 361,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total value of $186,369.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,638.48. This represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CWT shares. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.8%

California Water Service Group stock opened at $50.47 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $53.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.72.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.13. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $308.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.36%.

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.