Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 555 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. owned about 0.09% of California Water Service Group worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. Penn Mutual Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $46.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

California Water Service Group Profile

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.