Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) to “Overweight”

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $52.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $56.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $43.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.27. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $42.31 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,031,103 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 79.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 252,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,709,000 after buying an additional 112,118 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 135.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,724,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 354.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 76,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 59,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.