California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 661,600 shares, a decrease of 13.9% from the January 31st total of 768,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 352,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,689,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,607,000 after acquiring an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,670,000 after acquiring an additional 22,192 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,384,000 after acquiring an additional 113,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,073,000 after acquiring an additional 49,107 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on CWT shares. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America started 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.92. 284,958 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 371,319. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.41.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

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.