California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 9,095.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,559 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,322,000 after purchasing an additional 34,155 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,602,000 after buying an additional 36,296 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,738,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,634,000 after buying an additional 462,394 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,094,000 after acquiring an additional 60,931 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,420,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,579,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CWT stock opened at $50.72 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $52.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $805,904. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,030,756.50. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.