EntryPoint Capital LLC Invests $220,000 in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 46,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 3.8 %

NYSE:CWT opened at $48.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.64 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

California Water Service Group Company 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.