California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Sets New 1-Year High at $55.52

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $55.52 and last traded at $55.17, with a volume of 623 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $55.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.47.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $216.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.80%.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 40.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,957,000. Institutional investors 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.