Lester Snow Sells 500 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Lester Snow sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total transaction of $25,105.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,591.57. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CWT stock opened at $50.09 on Thursday. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $53.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.50.

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

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 8.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 311,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,095,000 after buying an additional 54,277 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the first quarter valued at $5,979,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 432.4% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 22,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 4,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CWT shares. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.