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

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 493,500 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 550,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 295,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,874 shares of company stock valued at $202,318 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $334,609,000 after purchasing an additional 232,344 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 872,865 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,491,000 after buying an additional 25,711 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,605,000 after purchasing an additional 19,118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.49. 264,184 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,842. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.39.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The firm had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group's revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.67.

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.