Short Interest in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Drops By 10.3%

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) saw a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 493,500 shares, a drop of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 550,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 295,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CWT traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.49. The company had a trading volume of 264,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,842. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,157.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,874 shares of company stock worth $202,318 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWT. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,000. 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.