California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $51.00 and last traded at $50.9470, with a volume of 147560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CWT. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.44.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 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, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,030,756.50. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 277,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,723,000 after acquiring an additional 35,627 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,322,000 after acquiring an additional 34,155 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,094,000 after acquiring an additional 60,931 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter valued at $2,357,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at $1,197,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.