Short Interest in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Drops By 10.3%

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

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the business’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 value of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 over the last ninety days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,013,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,079,000 after purchasing an additional 872,865 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 232,344 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth $7,957,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

California Water Service Group stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 264,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,842. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $56.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.37.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a 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 currently 44.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.