Quest Partners LLC Purchases 16,966 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 297.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,966 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $1,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,609,000 after purchasing an additional 232,344 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,711 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,605,000 after purchasing an additional 19,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,819 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $51.41 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.58 and its 200 day moving average is $51.87. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86 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.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

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.