California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $48.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Insider Activity

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at $6,823,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 135.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after buying an additional 68,914 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth $3,724,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 354.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 76,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 59,956 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.