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

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 675,500 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 637,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 299,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after purchasing an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after buying an additional 31,412 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 52.2% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 63,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after acquiring an additional 21,791 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 135.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of CWT opened at $45.33 on Thursday. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted 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). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

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.