California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) VP Michael B. Luu Sells 985 Shares

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $51.19 on Thursday. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.86.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,823,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at $535,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 297.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 16,966 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,609,000 after purchasing an additional 232,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $568,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

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.