Short Interest in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Declines By 17.3%

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 408,100 shares, a drop of 17.3% from the September 15th total of 493,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 295,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093 over the last ninety days. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd 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 stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter worth $127,000. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $53.79 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $244.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

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.