California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $46.14, but opened at $48.11. California Water Service Group shares last traded at $46.3930, with a volume of 19,726 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.23. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.13. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $308.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.3350 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total value of $186,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,638.48. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lester Snow sold 500 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total transaction of $25,105.00. Following the sale, the director owned 17,817 shares in the company, valued at $894,591.57. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth $523,255,000. Amundi boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,486,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $169,741,000 after buying an additional 15,862 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,158,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,522,000 after buying an additional 4,428 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,324,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at about $39,285,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) is a water utility holding company that provides regulated water and related services through its operating subsidiaries. The company supplies drinking water to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers, managing water sourcing, treatment, storage, quality monitoring and distribution systems.

Its principal subsidiary, California Water Service Company, serves communities throughout California. The group also operates through Hawaii Water Service Company, New Mexico Water Service Company and Washington Water Service Company, giving it a presence in several U.S.