Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 4,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 255.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at about $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.85.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.