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 stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $52.01 on Tuesday. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.87.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors 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 2.15%. 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

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth $6,823,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the first quarter worth about $535,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 16,966 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $334,609,000 after acquiring an additional 232,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $568,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.