California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Sells $160,210.00 in Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Thomas Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $43.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.51. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $50.44.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 67.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CWT shares. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report 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, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

About California Water Service Group

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.