Insider Selling: California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Sells $28,732.35 in Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total transaction of $28,732.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,633.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $51.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $45.44 and a twelve month high of $66.12. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.50 and a beta of 0.45.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $254.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.23 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 3.04%. As a group, analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,140,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth about $355,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 71,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 8,390 shares during the last quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 30,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. 80.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CWT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded California Water Service Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.