California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.45 and last traded at $49.91, with a volume of 184 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.07.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,030,756.50. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,322,000 after buying an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,421,000 after acquiring an additional 732,004 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,602,000 after acquiring an additional 36,296 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,094,000 after acquiring an additional 60,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,420,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,579,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.