Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT – Get Rating) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 68,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,085,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.13% of California Water Service Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Credit Suisse AG grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 294.5% during the fourth quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 180,869 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,996,000 after purchasing an additional 135,027 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,414,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $101,629,000 after purchasing an additional 81,975 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 261.7% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 109,967 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,848,000 after purchasing an additional 79,567 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 118.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 103,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,430,000 after purchasing an additional 56,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 17.5% during the first quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 338,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,059,000 after purchasing an additional 50,502 shares during the last quarter. 80.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.04, for a total value of $63,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,856.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.04, for a total value of $63,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,856.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.54, for a total value of $25,729.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,489.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,925 shares of company stock worth $117,956 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $58.44 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $48.46 and a 12-month high of $72.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.24). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 10.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, August 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 5th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

About California Water Service Group

(Get Rating)

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.

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