California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Short Interest Up 53.1% in August

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 550,300 shares, a growth of 53.1% from the August 15th total of 359,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 289,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,952 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 613,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,826,000 after acquiring an additional 32,053 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in California Water Service Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,789,000 after acquiring an additional 10,993 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $54.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $55.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. 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 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 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.