California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.02 and last traded at $52.9510, with a volume of 61086 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 3.4%

The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.79.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The firm had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.00%.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at $805,904. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $160,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. The trade was a 13.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi increased its position in California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,421,000 after buying an additional 732,004 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 5,365.1% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 368,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after purchasing an additional 361,339 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth about $10,349,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 416.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 257,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,696,000 after purchasing an additional 208,061 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 29.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 577,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,172,000 after purchasing an additional 130,620 shares during the period. 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.