California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 322,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,530. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.86.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,491,000 after buying an additional 25,711 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,031,103 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,548,000 after buying an additional 48,055 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,605,000 after buying an additional 19,118 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.