California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) VP Sells $32,952.20 in Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) VP Michael Luu sold 740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total value of $32,952.20. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,357.15. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $45.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $51.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.26.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning grew its position in California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,475,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.