California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Reaches New 12-Month High at $55.56

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $55.56 and last traded at $55.50, with a volume of 369950 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.99.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 11.94%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 6,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.