First Trust Advisors LP Has $64.44 Million Stock Position in California Water Service Group $CWT

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 4.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,404,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 59,404 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $64,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 3,318.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 3.8%

CWT stock opened at $43.93 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $51.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.93 and its 200-day moving average is $45.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 12.82%.California Water Service Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Equities 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About California Water Service Group

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.