Lester Snow Sells 1,100 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Lester Snow sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $43.89 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.69. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.29 and a twelve month high of $50.44.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CWT. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 8.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 21.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 311,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,095,000 after buying an additional 54,277 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth approximately $5,979,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in California Water Service Group by 432.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 22,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 16.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 4,055 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.