Teton Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in California Water Service Group $CWT

Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. 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 acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $45.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.51. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The firm had revenue of $265.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.