California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Short Interest Down 10.3% in September

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 493,500 shares, a decrease of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 550,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 295,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,411.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,013,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,079,000 after purchasing an additional 872,865 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,609,000 after buying an additional 232,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth $7,957,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.74. The stock had a trading volume of 128,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,420. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.45. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.