Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Boosts Position in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 15th, 2023

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT – Get Rating) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned about 0.09% of California Water Service Group worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at $27,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 37.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 559.0% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 8.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. 79.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Kuta sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.79, for a total value of $56,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,499.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $57.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.63 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $48.46 and a one year high of $66.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.06.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.13. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 5.69% and a net margin of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $200.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

California Water Service Group Profile

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California Water Service Group is a holding company, which engages in provision of water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii through its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The firm 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.