California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CWT. Bank of America initiated coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $43.71 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 70.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 55.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after purchasing an additional 57,811 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 297.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 16,966 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,559,000 after purchasing an additional 24,275 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $588,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.